There is no gentle easing in for either Rajasthan Royals or Chennai Super Kings this season. Sanju Samson has swapped franchises, arriving at CSK with the weight of expectation as their new marquee wicketkeeper-batter. Ravindra Jadeja, after 12 seasons synonymous with Chennai’s success, pulls on his old Rajasthan pink for the first time in 17 years. On March 30 in Guwahati, all these threads collide, and the needle swings decisively one way.
Riyan Parag wins the toss and elects to bowl. The Guwahati pitch is tricky early, having been under covers in the lead-up, and RR makes brilliant use of the conditions. Nandre Burger strikes first, delivering a gem of an outswinger that crashes into Sanju Samson’s off stump on just his second ball facing his new franchise. His debut for CSK ends at six runs, dismissed before the crowd barely settles.
Jofra Archer backs up Burger by shattering captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s stumps in the very next over. At 19 for 2, CSK’s new era looks fragile.
Then comes Jadeja. Introduced in the eighth over, he makes an immediate impact striking twice in his opening over, removing Sarfaraz Khan and Shivam Dube to further dent CSKIt is a poignant, complicated moment a man who gave so much of himself to Chennai cricket now dismantling them in front of a packed crowd. Jamie Overton fights a brave lone battle, top-scoring with 43 off 36 from number eight, but CSK are bundled out for 127.
What follows is barely a chase. It is a coronation. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who turn 15 exactly one week before this game, walk out, and within minutes Guwahati is not watching cricket; it is watching something else entirely. Sooryavanshi reaches his fifty in just 15 balls, the joint-third fastest in IPL history, an innings laced with five sixes and four boundaries. His back-to-back sixes off Noor Ahmad in the sixth over to bring up that milestone draw roars from the crowd and disbelief from the commentary box.
The opening pair raced to 74 for no loss in the powerplay, effectively sealing the contest in the first six overs. Sooryavanshi departs for 52 off 17, and RR cruise home with almost eight overs to spare.
Parag smiles post-match and says Vaibhav plays 14 games, and whatever happens in the media shouldn’t bother him. The world, however, is paying very close attention. And as for Jadeja, he says the dressing room smiles are similar to the ones he remembers from his first stint. It feels like a homecoming.
