Ravindra Jadeja (Image credit: BCCI/IPL) NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals started their IPL 2026 campaign in a dominant fashion, registering a crushing eight-wicket win over five-time champions Chennai Super Kings at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Monday.Among several key moments during the high-intensity clash, one that stood out was Ravindra Jadeja’s animated celebration after taking a wicket.
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Angkrish Raghuvanshi only focused on team winsJadeja came up with a ‘gun’ celebration after dismissing the CSK all-rounder.After Rajasthan Royals’ win, former Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Anil Kumble, part of an expert panel on JioStar, asked Jadeja if this was a new celebration.“Jadeja, is this new to the market?” asked the experts.On this, Jadeja said, “When I was playing for CSK, then I was celebrating. I thought it should be continued.”“Dube told me that they were thinking of hitting the spinners with the first ball. I didn’t have anything in mind, but at the same time he also thought that if he took his wicket, CSK’s middle order would be destroyed. I was thinking of batting the ball with a positive mindset,” he said.Jadeja also reflected on the emotional outing against his former team Chennai Super Kings.“I like the pink color. The yellow started to look a bit old, but I’m just kidding. Obviously, leaving a franchise like CSK, where I played for 12-13 years, was a bit difficult at first. It was very emotional. But I told myself that such changes are also part of the journey. It was good that now I won the title for the first time with an IPL team.”“The memory has always stayed with me that after the U19 World Cup, I started my IPL career there and won the title in the very first season. I took these memories with me along with a positive mindset and my aim is to learn as much as possible with the new group and also share my experience with the team,” he added.Jadeja’s impact was felt with the ball as RR bundled out CSK for 127, setting up a comfortable chase that ended with a thunderous knock from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.“The wicket was a bit sticky, so it suited my type of bowling. My job was simply to bowl in the right areas. When you hit the right areas of a wicket that holds a bit, the ball tends to grip and come in slower, which is good as a bowler. Getting a surface like that to bowl on in the first match will give you confidence as a bowler.”“I thought about bowling it at the stumps because I wanted to take a risk if he didn’t do it in the middle. But when he hit me for six, I quickly changed my strategy to bowling wide because he would still hit me on a straight line. I decided to finish on the fifth-sixth stump line because I thought if he went over he might not have timed it right, which luckily he did.” he was looking and it was a big goal for us.”Rajasthan Royals will now take on Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on April 4.
