New Delhi: The 25th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab on Thursday, in which hosts Hyderabad won by 13 runs, saw two brilliant bowling performances from two promising pacers.
Ankit Rajput of Kings XI Punjab produced a spell of 5 for 14 to restrict Hyderabad to 132 for 6 while Basil Thampi of Hyderabad took the prize wicket of Punjab’s match winner Chris Gayle to return with figure of 2 for 14 from his 2.2 overs.
One notable highlight being discussed here apart from the spell is the contrasting behaviour of the two pacers towards senior cricketers.
Rajput, through his spell produced the best figures for a Kings XI bowler, and he is the second best bowling figures for a player, has been criticised for hurling abuses at Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan.
Through a sheer display of pace and bounce, he dismissed Dhawan and gave the senior Indian player an abusive send off.
Rajput also dismissed the likes of Kane Williamson, Dhawan and Wriddhiman Saha in his first three overs. Many felt that taking the wickets of an international player deserved a celebration, but not to the extent of abusing the star player.
Many fans tweeted asking Rajput to first learn to respect a senior player as cricket is a gentleman’s game.
Meanwhile, Kerala’s Thampi won the hearts of many, including senior Kerala cricketers, by stating that he never forgets to thank all those who shaped his career from his childhood.
Interestingly, Thampi speaks to Indian pacer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, whose career slipped due to his inability to control his emotions and also after being alleged involved in the IPL match fixing scandal.
Thampi remarked that he seeks Sreesanth advice on how to handle situations and for motivation. Taking the wicket of in-form Gayle helped Hyderabad win the match against Punjab by defending such a small total.
Thampi was the 2017 IPL’s ‘Best Emerging Player’ and was even selected for the T20 series against Sri Lanka.
Twenty-four-year old Rajput hails from Uttar Pradesh and had made his mark on his domestic debut, when he emerged as the second highest wicket-taker of his team in 2012-13. He was rated highly by former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad who was the state’s bowling coach for two seasons.
Commenting on his five wicket spell, Rajput said: “I don’t think IPL is easy. Everybody works hard and does well. Getting help from wicket and I was bowling it full. I planned and stuck to it. I was aided by the pace that I found. It was my day today so I got five wickets.”
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 132/6 (Manish Pandey 54, Shakib Al Hasan 28; Ankit Rajput 5/14) beat Kings XI Punjab (Lokesh Rahul 32, Chris Gayle 23; Rashid Khan 3/19, Basil Thampi 2/14, Shakib Al Hasan 2/18) by 13 runs.
