Rahane raced to his fifty of just 19 balls laced with six fours and three sixes to get Chennai Super Kings‘s chase off to a brisk start against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Rahane’s blitzkrieg came to an end when he was holed out to Suryakumar Yadav at long-on off leg spinner Piyush Chawla. He scored 61 off just 27 balls.
Before Rahane, Rajasthan Royals batter Jos Buttler and KKR all-rounder Shardul Thakur held the joint record of scoring the fastest fifty this season, off 20 balls.
Rahane, who has played for Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians, Rising Pune Supergiants, Delhi Capitals, and Kolkata Knight Riders before joining CSK this season, struck six boundaries and one six after coming into the squad after England Test captain Ben Stokes pulled out with an injury.
Rahane, who came in after CSK had lost Devon Conway with only 1 run on the board, completed his half-century with two back-to-back boundaries off seasoned leg-break bowler Piyush Chawla in the sixth over. This was his first fifty in the IPL since 2020.
However, this is not the fastest-ever half-century in IPL history as that record is shared by KL Rahul and Pat Cummins, both of whom reached the milestone off just 14 deliveries. Rahul did that for Punjab Kings against Delhi Capitals in 2018 and Cummins for KKR against Mumbai Indians in 2022.
Rahane’s knock comes way down the list of fastest half-centuries in IPL history but was still quite pleasing for the capacity crowd in Wankhede as the spectators were happy to see local boy Rahane, who represents Mumbai in Ranji Trophy, come good — even though it was against the home team Mumbai Indians. The CSK component of the Wankhede crowd was expectedly ecstatic as the team has found a reliable batter in the middle order.
(With Agency Inputs)
