"A breakthrough season as a bowler" - Aakash Chopra on Ravindra Jadeja's role in CSK's IPL 2023 win

Aakash Chopra believes Ravindra Jadeja's 'breakthrough season' as a bowler played a huge role in the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) title win in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023).

CSK pipped the Gujarat Titans by five wickets via the DLS method in the title decider in Ahmedabad on Monday, May 29. Jadeja, who hit the winning boundary off the last ball in the final, picked up 20 wickets in the tournament at a decent economy of 7.56.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra delved into some of the reasons behind CSK's triumph. Regarding Jadeja's contribution with the ball, he said:

"Jaddu's magic. A breakthrough season as a bowler, not as a batter. You wouldn't have seen such effective bowling from Jaddu in the last four-five years in the IPL. You would have seen Jaddu doing very well otherwise, but in the IPL we used to talk about his middling performances but this was Jaddu's year."

The former Indian opener highlighted MS Dhoni's role in extracting the best out of the spin-bowling all-rounder, explaining:

"I felt the captain had an agenda that he will get the best out of him, that he will make him the best player he can ever be. He went with that commitment - when and how much to bowl and batting him above himself."

Chopra feels Jadeja was being empowered and prepared for the big occasion. He added that the result of the preparation was seen in the final, with the left-handed batter smashing a six and a four of the last two deliveries to take his team to a record-equaling fifth IPL title.

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"This team's bowling was slightly weak" - Aakash Chopra on Matheesha Pathirana's role in CSK's triumph

Matheesha Pathirana picked up 19 wickets in 12 matches in IPL 2023. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra also lauded Matheesha Pathirana for his role in resolving CSK's bowling issues, elaborating:

"They unleashed a weapon called Matheesha Pathirana. The start was not good, this team's bowling was slightly weak. Then Sisanda Magala and Deepak Chahar got injured, Dwaine Pretorius was not getting fit in the scheme of things, and Tushar Deshpande was picking up wickets but was extremely expensive."

The reputed commentator pointed out that the Sri Lankan pacer was as effective as Dwayne Bravo used to be at the death, observing:

"Matheesha Pathirana was prepared. They got him to bowl four overs at the death regularly. Dwayne Bravo used to do this job at his peak and he too used to do this well only. The yorkers, the slower ones, the bouncers with a slingy action, and then the temperament to get hit and still come out and perform."

Chopra also had a few words of praise for Deepak Chahar. He pointed out that the swing bowler resolved CSK's new-ball issues after recovering from his injury.

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