Mumbai Indians hand debut to Nuwan Thushara before IPL 2024
Published - 22 Jan 2024, 05:42 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 10:23 AM
Sri Lanka’s 29-year-old pacer Nuwan Thushara who reminds everyone of the legendary Lasith Malinga was on target during MI Captown’s 5th SAT20 match against Paarl Royal which was a reverse fixture of the 2nd edition. Thushara went away with figures of 2/27 in his quota of 4 overs but that didn’t help MI Capetown as they suffered their 3rd defeat of the season at the Boland Park.
Before the match had begun, Nuwan Thushara was handed his debut Capetown cap by none other than Malinga himself. Thushara was replacing the injured English bowler Olly Stone in the playing XI. He did not fail to make an instant impact and hinted at all the special things to expect from him.
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At 29 years of age, he might be at the toe end of his career but the Sri Lankan is just getting started. He made his debut for the national team in 2022 during a T20I series in Australia and has been a part of the team ever since. His toe-crushing Yorkers and out-swinging deliveries are gentle reminders of lethality for every batter that will face him in the future.
Nuwan Thushara’s abilities were recognized in the IPL too as he landed a deal worth 4.8 crores from his base price of 50 Lakhs with Capetown’s parent franchise and 5-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians which was also once the home of Malinga. Though it remains to be seen if he will be integrated into the playing XI right off given his talent, Mumbai’s Sri Lankan head coach Mahela Jayawardene might as well give it a try.
Especially in a season where they will desperately aim to reach the finals for the first time since the 2020 edition. If we talk about Nuwan Thushara’s record in Sri Lanka’s domestic T20s, then has racked up an impressive 109 wickets in just 81 matches with a decent economy rate of 7.74.
MI Capetown’s Loss Comes As A Big Win For Nuwan Thushara
MI Capetown might have lost their reverse clash against Paarl Royals by a margin of 59 runs, but the standout performer was Nuwan Thushara. The 29-year-old maintained a super line length and gave very few loose balls to the Royals batters who were breathing fire throughout their innings.
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After Thomas Kaber removed the dangerous opener, Jason Roy, for 68, Thushara introduced himself with a banger of a delivery to Roy’s partner Jos Buttler. The Englishman after getting to a slow start, accelerated his innings slowly and scored an important half-century as well.
But as he was looking to strike every single ball coming his way, Nuwan Thushara’s spot on full-length ball castled the stumps of Buttler who walked away after a 54-run knock off 42 deliveries. Then in the very next ball, Thushara scalped his 2nd and led to the golden duck of number 4 batter Fabian Allen.
The delivery he used to remove Allen was the one that many are saying Malinga used to use during his playing days. A deceiving slower one that dipped in time before Allen could hit with the ball hitting right into his pads for a plumb LBW.
Although Nuwan Thushara could not complete what could have been a debut SA20 hat trick, he surely displayed that he could become a force to reckon with.
