RR vs KKR: Have Been Very Fortunate To See Two Centuries On April 18 - Sunil Gavaskar On Jos Buttler And Brendon McCullum

Former Indian player Sunil Gavaskar considered himself very fortunate enough to watch two great knocks in the history of IPL on the date of April 18. The match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) marked the completion of 15 years of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

The memorable day was led by Rajasthan Royals batter Jos Buttler with his special performance against KKR in the first innings. The Englishman scored 103 off 61 balls comprising nine boundaries and five sixes to power his side to a mammoth score of 217 for five.

Jos Buttler leads Rajasthan Royals torment against KKR bowlers

Buttler showed respect to KKR spinner Sunil Narine and negated his spell with ease but took a toll on other bowlers in the en-route to his second hundred this season. Buttler clobbered Umesh Yadav, punched Varun Chakravarthy with a straight bat, opened the face of his bat against Shivam Mavi and thumped Pat Cummins’ full toss over the fence to reach the three-figure mark.

Going down memory lane, KKR head coach Brendon McCullum slammed a breathtaking unbeaten 158 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in what was the first match of the IPL on April 18, 2008, in Bengaluru. The former New Zealand player blasted 10 fours and 13 sixes in his blistering knock that helped KKR thrash RCB by 140 runs in the IPL 2008 opener.

I just thought it was an amazing, fabulous innings: Sunil Gavaskar on Jos Buttler’s innings

Gavaskar hailed Buttler for his absolute class and recalled McCullum’s knock to double the joy of the England player’s second hundred in IPL 2022.

“I just thought it was an amazing, fabulous innings. All I can say is that I have been very fortunate on the 18th of April to see two centuries. One of Baz McCullum and now Jos Buttler,” Gavaskar said live on Star Sports on Monday.

Rajasthan Royals eventually outplayed KKR by seven runs as Yuzvendra Chahal picked a hat-trick in the 17th over to finish with 5/40, his maiden five-wicket haul in the IPL.

Also Read: RR vs KKR: Jos Buttler Joins Elite List After Hitting 2nd Century In IPL 2022