Despite extraordinary efforts, Mohit Sharma alone couldn’t take GT to victory and CSK became the champions for the fifth time. In the post-match analysis, Sunil Gavaskar shared some observations of the final over and said some decisions of Hardik Pandya affected the rhythm of Mohit Sharma.

“He had bowled the first 3-4 delivery absolutely brilliantly. Then, for some strange reason, some water was sent to him. In the middle of the over, some drink was sent to him. Then Hardik Pandya came and spoke with him. You know when a bowler is in that rhythm and he is mentally also there, nobody should have said anything to him. Maybe from a distance, they could have just said ‘well bowled’. Going to them, talking to him – I do not think that was the right thing to do because suddenly, he was looking here and there. Till then, he was focused and I do not think what they did was the right idea. Because after that, he went for runs,” Gavaskar told Sports Today.

At a time when world-class bowlers like Mohammad Shami and Rashid Khan were getting a tough beating from CSK batters, Mohit Sharma stood like the only mountain between CSK and the IPL Cup.

Ravindra Jadeja smashed the winning four and CSK lifted the IPL trophy for the fifth time, now equalized with Mumbai Indians (MI).

Updated: 31 May 2023, 10:42 PM IST