When the boy from Trinidad and Tobago publicly expressed his admiration for legendary Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in 2013, hardly anyone noticed. But when Akeal Hosein grabbed four wickets for Chennai Super Kings at the iconic Wankhede against fellow five-time champions Mumbai Indians, that 13-year-old expression resurfaced.
Hosein was only 20 at the time but had just made his List A or T20 debut and let the world know about his role model through a tweet. While Hosein featured in starring roles against India, his performance against MI on Thursday night is what really brought out the similarity. The West Indian spinner was bought by CSK for Rs 2 crore during the 2026 IPL auction.
CSK set a tough target for MI to chase; but Hosein’s brilliant cone in the power-play brought the opposition to their knees very early on. Akeal Hosein shows his admiration for Jadeja to the public (Image from X)
Akeal, himself an orthodox left-arm spinner, struck gold in the very first over, getting the better of rookie batsman Malewar of Denmark and sending him back for a golden duck. Substitute Hosein then released the in-form Naman Dhir, which ended with a goal-scoring effort.
He later came back in the middle overs to end MI’s chase by removing Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav. The West Indian finished with figures of 4-17, a performance that truly replicated the impact Jadeja had during his time in the yellow jersey.
“I think one thing that sticks with me is what Dwayne Bravo said. He said like pitchers and like pitchers and guys who operate in the power play, you’re going to get hit. So as long as you can get that out of your mind and just focus on your plans — what are the batsman’s strengths and weaknesses and what are your strengths and weaknesses, what you forget, you forget and focus on what you’re going to think about.” you are fine,” Hosein said about his performance after the match against MI.
And social media was quick to bring this old tweet back, with users agreeing that he did indeed do what Jadeja did.
However, this was not the first time that Hosein managed to achieve a moment of brilliance. In the T20I against England in January 2022, Hosein hit a hat-trick of sixes and two fours in the last match and almost won the match for West Indies when they needed 30 runs from six balls. West Indies fell one run short of the target. Then in 2023 against India in a T20I, he produced an all-round performance, picking up two crucial wickets while scoring a match-winning 16 off 10 balls to get West Indies over the line.
Hosein will next be in action against Gujarat Titans when CSK host them at MA Chidambaram on April 26.
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Published on:
24 Apr 2026 10:31 IST
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