CSK vs MI: A tale of ecstasy and agony for Pandya and Negi

Cricket can be beautiful, it can bring you ultimate joy but cricket can be brutal too and can deliver swift shifts in fortunes. Ask Hardik Pandya and he will tell you how glorious the sport is. Ask Pawan Negi, he will tell you how cruel the sport is. As the Chennai Super Kings took on Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday, the 21-year-old Pandya and the 22-year-old Negi were playing in just their fourth games of the season respectively. [caption id=“attachment_2235922” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Hardik Pandya celebrates Mumbai’s win. Sportzpics[/caption] Negi strode out to bat at no. 6 with CSK needing quick runs after Faf du Plessis got out in the 16th over. Negi had shown his big hitting prowess in the last three matches and he didn’t disappoint. While MS Dhoni was struggling to hit boundaries, Negi took all the pressure off his captain as he hit an array of powerful strokes on his way to a 17-ball 36, which included four fours and one six, and lifted Chennai to a final score of 158 for 6. Pandya, meanwhile had a good time in the field. He was involved in the first three Chennai wickets, taking three catches to send back Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina and Dwayne Smith, in that order. He would have been feeling pretty good about his work in the field. Cut to the 18th over of Mumbai’s innings. Bravo had just dismissed Rohit Sharma with MI still needing 34 from 18. As Rohit walked towards the dugout, he pointed to the bench. Later he revealed he wanted Pandya to come out to bat. Pandya started off calmly with two runs from two balls as Dwayne Bravo bowled a brilliant over conceding just four runs. Mumbai were left with the daunting task of scoring 30 from 12 balls. Dhoni tossed the ball to the player of the day so far - Negi - who had figures of 3-0-10-0 to that point. Their contest would now be a head-to-head one. Pandya launched the first ball over long on for a powerful six. After missing with a reverse paddle, he smashed the next one over long off for another six. The fourth ball was hammered back over long on to make it three sixes in the over. Rayudu then joined the party as he hit the last ball straight back for the fourth six in the over. Just like that, Negi’s over had cost CSK the match. After Rayudu hit the winning runs, Pandya ran towards the dugout leaping in the air and then hugging Harbhajan Singh. “I was batting very well in the nets. It is good that they had the faith and sent me ahead of Bhajji Pa,” Pandya said after the match. “I can hit the ball very hard. It was the most emotions I went through. I had to target the straight boundary, because side boundaries are slightly long”. Ricky Ponting, the Mumbai coach, showered Pandya with praise. “I love the kid’s attitude. He’s been dying to get an opportunity. Terrific that a young guy can play like this in pressure situation for us.” At the other end of the spectrum, Dhoni said it was a tactical error to give the penultimate over to Negi. “I was pushed to take the decision (to bring Negi in the 19th over) because our fast bowlers didn’t bowl well. Negi has bowled well for us and also this was the first time he was bowling under so much pressure. No problems with that, it’s a fair amount of exposure. It was a tactical error in the end.” Pandya was named the Man of the Match for his whirlwind 21 off eight balls and three catches while Negi went from potential hero to villain in the space of just six deliveries, his batting already forgotten. Pandya could savour the high of victory. Negi was left with the bitter taste of defeat. The best of sports. The worst of sports.