One of the leading bowlers in world cricket Kagiso Rabada on Monday heaped rich praise on Rishi Dhawan who held his nerve in a tense final over to deliver an 11-run win for Punjab Kings against Chennai Super Kings in Match 38 of IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium.
Rabada, speaking after Punjab’s thrilling win, said it can be nerve-wracking bowling to MS Dhoni at the death, especially when the stadium is filled with yellow shirts chanting the legendary cricketer’s name but that Rishi Dhawan did well to stay calm under pressure.
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Coming back to play the IPL for the first time in 6 years, Rishi Dhawan shone with the ball for Pujab Kings in his first match of IPL 2022. After picking up the wicket of in-form Shivam Dube in his first spell wherein he went for Just 24 in 3 overs, the 32-year-old all-rounder was tasked with the responsibility of bowling the final over to MS Dhoni when CSK needed 27 runs.
Rishi Dhawan, who was sporting much-talked-about head protection gear After recovering from a nose injury that he suffered during the Ranji Trophy earlier this year, brought all his experience to stop Dhoni from pulling off another stunning chase.
The over did not start well as Dhoni hit a short ball from Rishi into the stands at deep backward square leg but the Himachal Pradesh captain finished the chase with the wicket of Dhoni in the 3rd ball which followed a dot ball. Rishi got the line wrong but Dhoni could not time the ball and the CSK legend was caught at deep mid-wicket.
The Punjab camp breathed a sign of relief as Rishi got the big man, silencing the Wankhede crowd.
“Rishi coming back and bowling that final over, he put his hand up. It’s still a bit nerve-wracking when you’re bowling at MS Dhoni and there’s not one red shirt in the crowd, only yellow shirts chanting his name. I think it can be a bit nerve-wracking but he held his nerve and came out on top so huge credit to him,” Rabada said.
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It was Rabada and Arsdheep who gave Rishi Dhawan the luxury of 27 runs in the final with a terrific display of bowling at the death. The equation came down to 47 in 24 balls after Ambati Rayudu, who produced a breathtaking innings of 78 from 39 balls, hit 23 runs in the 16th over bowled by Sandeep Sharma.
‘NICE TO HAVE ARSHDEEP’
However, Arshdeep brought Punjab back into the contest by giving away just 6 runs in the 17th over. Rabada got the big wicket of Rayudu in his final over and finished with figures of 2/23. Arshdeep bowled the 19th over to perfection, conceding just 8 runs as he finished with figures of 1/23.
” We got ourselves a winning total and I thought each and every individual in our bowling attack put their hand up. I think Arsh has been the best death bowler in this comp. That’s what the stats say. He’s a youngster coming in. He’s got a lot of drive, a lot of ambition and he’s got talent as well. And he’s just a good bloke. So it’s nice to have him around.
“I’ve always bowled at the death as well so I know I’m going to bowl at the death but Arsh has just been magnificent and been leading the way in that discipline,” Rabada added.
PBKS moved to the kept themselves well and truly alive in the play-offs race, registering their 4th win of IPL 2022. Mayank Agarwal’s men are in the 6th spot with 8 points from as many matches while CSK registered their 6th loss of the season.
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