Former India all-rounder R Ashwin heaped praise on Urvil Patel’s scintillating fifty that helped Chennai Super Kings break a long-standing duck in the IPL in their 204-run chase against the Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday evening.
The five-time champions CSK were set with the daunting target at the MA Chidambaram Stadium at a crucial point in their campaign, particularly stiffened by their poor chasing record. Since 2019, CSK had never successfully chased down a 180-plus target in the IPL. While the contest against Lucknow stretched nervously to a last-over win, Urvil’s stunning 13-ball half-century had catapulted Chennai to a blistering start.
The Gujarat batter smashed five sixes in succession as he romped to the joint-fastest fifty in IPL history, sharing the record with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Ashwin went onto label Urvil’s knock as the most important knock of the season so far.
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“Urvil Patel – It was the most important innings of this IPL 2026 campaign. It’s because CSK haven’t chased 180 in the last 7 years, with his knock, they easily chased down the target [have chased 180 only two times since 2019, including 204 vs LSG]. The way he batted, he didn’t even think for a minute whether he should take a single. I thought he would break the record. The way he batted, he should stick to it. If we get power play like that, who knows, it can be six wins in a row,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin, however, cautioned against CSK’s sluggishness in the middle-overs that partly reduced the effect of Urvil’s knock that eventually ended on 65 off 23 balls and said that the team could benefit from promoting up top in the order.
“If someone plays in that fashion, they would win the match in the power play. Ruturaj Gaikwad can change his tempo and play. What Kartik Sharma is doing, he can do. Why not? Promote Urvil at the top. Why keep him down the order? He can finish the match in the powerplay,” he added.
“CSK batting has a lot of power, but Brevis hasn’t yet come to the party. If CSK loses Sanju Samson early, or if the opposition team gets to a good start. It looks like CSK has less firepower; their pressure handling hasn’t looked good. There are things that CSK needs to pay attention to. Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Urvil Patel need to take responsibility [until 18th over],” remarked Ashwin.
CSK are currently fifth in the standings with 12 points after 11 matches.
