IPL 2024

Watch: MS Dhoni takes a friendly dig at Rajvardhan Hangargekar at CSK meet and greet event

In the opening game of the 2023 season, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, the young fast bowling wonder and winner of India’s under-19 Cricket World Cup, made his eagerly anticipated IPL debut for Chennai Super Kings against Gujarat Titans. The 20-year-old pacer recently participated in his maiden CSK event, and MS Dhoni made fun of him for adding extra runs.

He was initially selected by CSK for 1.5 crores at the auction before the IPL 2022, but he sat out last year. With six wides and a no-ball, Hangargekar has bowled six overs in two matches at the IPL 2023 and taken three wickets for 60 runs.

Rajvardhan Hangargekar has so far picked up 3 wickets for 60 runs in IPL 2023

He was recently seen attending a meet-and-greet event held by the team with CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and one of the coaches, Dwayne Bravo. Chennai Super Kings shared a video of the event on Twitter with the comment, “Extra Love and Banter! That’s how Raj’s first-ever meet and greet went by!”

In the video, MS Dhoni said, “Raj ko sabse jyada time laga ready hone mein.” Further, the CSK skipper asked him, “Pehla event hai?” to which Rajvardhan Hangargekar nodded ‘yes’. When asked how it made him feel to compete in this tournament with Dhoni and Bravo, Hangargekar said gracefully, “Good evening, everyone. Very happy to be here.” The Maharashtra-born bowler added, “As Mahi bhaiya said ki jitna jyada hum iss event ko fun kar sakte hai, acha hasi mazak mein rakh sakte hai, utna try karenge, aur let’s see,” which can be translated as “Mahi bhaiya said, we’ll try to make this event entertaining and fun.”

As soon as he was done speaking, MS Dhoni interrupted him and stated, “Basically bol raha hai koi iske no-ball ke baare mein baat nahi karega,” “Basically, he is saying nobody will talk about his no-ball.” Everyone in the audience and the panel laughed hysterically at this. The MSD comment was translated into English: “Basically, he is saying nobody will talk about his no-ball.”

Here’s the video:

Extra Love and Banter! That's how Raj’s first ever meet and greet went by! #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛 @TheIndiaCements pic.twitter.com/nfJdS7UVcX

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 10, 2023

Against GT, Hangargekar took three wickets for 36 runs in his four overs, but in his second encounter against LSG, the youngster was without a wicket and went for 24 runs in two overs. He was left off the CSK roster for their most recent game against the Mumbai Indians.