Virender Sehwag hails Rayudu's 'brilliant hitting', says '3D glasses he ordered worked'

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag on Saturday took to social media to praise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsman Ambati Rayudu for playing a brilliant knock against Mumbai Indians (MI). Sehwag also took a jibe at former team India selector MSK Prasad, who had defended Vijay Shankar's selection for the 2019 World Cup against Rayudu's, calling the former a "three-dimensional player". Rayudu announced his retirement following the incident and also posted a humourous post on Twitter, saying "Just ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup". 

'3D glasses worked'

While praising Rayudu's knock against Mumbai, Sehwag brought back the old reference as he wrote, "72 of 27. Sab ulta hai in 3D mode. The 3D glasses he ordered worked like how. Absolutely brilliant hitting from Rayudu. Chennai Romba Nalla this season." Rayudu played a brilliant inning against Mumbai Indians as he scored an incredible 72 runs off just 27 balls and also hit one of the fastest half-centuries of IPL 2021. Rayudu's knock helped Chennai post a total of more than 200 runs, making it difficult for Mumbai to chase down the score. 

However, Rayudu's brilliant knock was topped by Mumbai Indians all-rounder Kieron Pollard, who took two wickets and played an important inning of 87 runs to steer the Blues to victory against their arch-rival. Pollard played an entertaining knock of 34-ball 87, which included a whopping 8 maximums and 6 boundaries. Mumbai Indians won the thrilling encounter by 4 wickets with zero balls to spare. 

The Rohit Sharma-led team had won the toss and decided to bowl first. Trent Boult provided an early breakthrough by dismissing CSK opener Ruturaj Gaikwad. Faf du Plessis and Moeen Ali forged an important partnership for CSK as they put together 108 runs on the board. Moeen Ali scored his first half-century of the season before being dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah. Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina, who had come in place of Ali, were also sent back in the successive over by Kieron Pollard. CSK was looking in a tough position with 116/4 in 12 overs. 

However, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu steadied the innings for CSK as they scored more than 100 runs together to help Chennai cross the 200-run mark. But, it wasn't MS Dhoni's day as Rohit Sharma's men snatched the victory from CSK's jaws towards the end of the second innings to register the second-highest run chase in IPL history. 

(Image Credit: PTI)