Horn Not Ok Please Trophy: Road Safety XI vs No Honking XI
A lot of people might be wondering what the Indian cricketers have been doing in their off-period. You’d be surprised to know that quite a few of them were playing in a charity game for a social cause - Road Safety and Noise Pollution.
The match was played for TATA Horn Not Ok Please Trophy, in view of the traffic problems, road safety issues and the noise pollution. Several stars like Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and others participated in the match.
Suresh Raina-led Road Safety XI team went face to face with Yuvraj Singh-led No Honking XI and the game was a high scoring one.
Road Safety XI (RSXI) Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Suresh Raina (captain), Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Manoj Tiwary, Abhishek Nayar, Vinay Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Praveen Tambe, Kamlesh Nagarkoti
No Honking XI (NHXI) Playing XI: Rishabh Pant, Gaikwad, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Yuvraj Singh (captain), Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Mavi, Jasprit Bumrah
Batting first, No Honking XI (NHXI) started well despite losing a couple of early wickets. Rishabh Pant (20) fell after a good start but KL Rahul and Shubman Gill batted well after Pant’s dismissal. Rahul scored a brilliant 31-ball 56 while Shubman scored 23.
Both Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik got starts but couldn’t capitalise. Krunal Pandya finished off the innings with a 12-ball 21 to take NHXI to 202 in their 20 overs.
Vinay Kumar and Hardik Pandya took three wickets apiece while Manoj Tiwary, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Tambe took one wicket each. Chahal was the most economical bowler.
Chasing 203, Road Safety XI (RSXI) chased it down in 14 overs without breaking a sweat. Shikhar Dhawan and Ishan Kishan spared no bowler as they shared an unbeaten 204-run stand.
Both the openers went after the bowlers right from the start. Though Jasprit Bumrah's first over kept things relatively quiet, the second over was the start of the carnage as Shardul Thakur gave away 14 runs.
Under-19 World Cup star Shivam Mavi had an absolute shocker in his first over as well as he gave away 27 runs. RSXI scored a staggering 92 runs in the powerplay and Kishan, in particular, stayed on the front foot and didn’t spare any NHXI bowler.
Dhawan, on the other hand, played smartly and kept rotating the strike. The duo continued to attack after the powerplay as well and RSXI completed 100 runs in the seventh over itself.
Kishan continued the carnage and reached his century in 42 balls. The duo then polished off the chase in the 14th over. The youngster finished with an unbeaten 124 while Dhawan ended with 68 not out (eight fours and two sixes).
The Jharkhand batsman scored all around the ground and struck nine fours and 12 sixes and was deservedly won the Man of the Match award.
It was a day to forget for the bowlers as more than 400 runs were scored on a flat Wankhede pitch.
Brief Scores: No Honking XI 202/9 (KL Rahul 56, Yuvraj Singh 30, Dinesh Karthik 29, Vinay Kumar 3/40, Hardik Pandya 3/40) lost to Road Safety XI 204/0 (Ishan Kishan 124*, Shikhar Dhawan 68*)