IPL 2023, CSK vs DC | Twitter shocked as Manish Pandey's indecisiveness barbeques Marsh in middle of pitch

Chennai Super Kings kept true to their comeback spirit with a commendable bounce-back to post 167/8 on the board before some clinical new-ball bowling helped get rid of both Delhi Capitals openers by the third over itself. The hosts were, however, handed an unexpected bonus shortly after to place them in the driver's seat early in the second innings, courtesy of some hilarious running between the wickets by Manish Pandey and Mitchell Marsh.

Tushar Deshpande had the ball in his hand for the fourth over and began with a shortish delivery angling into Pandey. The veteran cautiously defended on the back foot with soft hands, in hopes of sneaking a quick single. Pandey immediately took a lunge forward to sprint towards the other end as soon as the white rock left his bat, only to realise Ajinkya Rahane was steaming towards it from short cover. The 33-year-old hesitated, his eyes fixed on the ball, even as Marsh ran down the track to complete the run in time. However, the Australian was encouraged to keep on going when Pandey took another two strides forward to indicate the run was on but once Rahane had the ball in hand, the Indian batter sold his teammate down the river by taking a sharp U-turn and hurrying back to his crease. Marsh, who was already alongside Pandey by the time, had nowhere to go once his partner had turned his back on him. Realizing his fate, he did not even make an attempt to save his wicket given he saw an ecstatic Rahane taking off towards the bowler's end in full flight before enthusiastically clipping the bails with the Kookaburra in his hand.

The Twitterati was quick to throw harsh criticism Pandey's way, considering the precarious situation the wicket left DC in, and flooded social media with reactions to the incident.

Pandey playing for CSK tonight!

LOL

True

Correct

Mix up

Certainly

Time to give hell

Perfect for CSK fans

Was he selfish?

They badly need it!