Indian off-spinner Ravi Ashwin was pleasantly surprised after pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai turned out to be an absolute belter during Chennai Super Kings’ match against Lucknow Super Giants on Monday, April 4 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

After being put into bat first, the Super Kings racked up a huge score of 217 for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs. Ruturaj Gaikwad carried on from where he left off against the Gujarat Titans. The right-handed batter raced to 57 runs off 31 balls with three fours and four sixes.

He was also involved in a partnership of 110 runs off 9.1 overs along with Devon Conway before Ravi Bishnoi accounted for his wicket.

Ashwin, during this while, took to Twitter and wrote, “High scoring thriller? This is a chepauk wicket from the past. Wow.”

The pitch at the Chepauk has generally been slow and low over the years. Spinners have got a lot of assistance while run-making has not been easy. But the game between CSK and LSG turned out to be completely different.

MS Dhoni also gave the Chennai crowd plenty to cheer for after hitting Mark Wood for two sixes in a row off Mark Wood in the last over of CSK’s innings.

CSK return to Chennai after 4 years

CSK returned to playing at the Chepauk after four years since last playing at the venue back in 2019. Due to the hassles surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, the Super Kings were deprived of playing at their home venue.

Prior to the match against LSG, CSK had won 40 out of their 50 matches at the Chepauk. Moreover, since 2013, the Super Kings won 19 out of 21 games at the venue, losing two only to five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI).