IPL 2021: Thanks To Rishabh Pant, He Has Given Me The Opportunity To Play This Season: Avesh Khan

Delhi Capitals pace bowler Avesh Khan thanked his captain Rishabh Pant for giving him enough opportunities to play in IPL 2021.

The 24-year-old Indore-born bowler bowled extremely well to restrict Mumbai Indians to a below-par score of 129/8 in the first innings at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Avesh got rid of Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma in his first over itself and dominated against the batters by bowling a total of 16 dot balls in his incredible spell.

In his final over, Avesh castled all-rounder Hardik Pandya with a pinpoint yorker and later bowled Nathan Coulter-Nile to finish his bowling spell with the figures of 3/15 in his quota of four overs.

I always look to take wickets rather than looking to contain runs: Avesh Khan

Avesh said that his motive is to get as many wickets rather than restricting the batters with the flow of runs.

Avesh played only two games in the last two seasons but has appeared in all of the pictures of the team this season, and the bowler had to credit his captain for the same.

“Thanks to Rishabh, he has given me the opportunity to play this season, whenever I bowl, I always look to take wickets rather than looking to contain runs. I was trying to take the wicket of Hardik Pandya, the ball reversed a bit, and hence I was able to dismiss him,” Avesh told Axar Patel in a video uploaded on iplt20.com.

It was not an easy wicket for the batters to slog: Axar Patel

Avesh was complemented by left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who controlled the middle-order of Mumbai Indians and got the wickets of Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav and Saurabh Tiwary to end with the figures of 3/21 and earned the player of the match award.

The Delhi Capitals all-rounder said he had decided not to give away boundaries to the opposition, and his plan worked on a sluggish wicket.

“I think after the six overs, I came onto bowl. My planning was not to concede boundaries on such a slow wicket. It was not an easy wicket for the batters to slog. Our team has Avesh Khan, he told me that we have qualified for the playoffs. Our team environment is very good,” Axar said. 

Delhi Capitals eventually edged out Mumbai Indians in the final over of the game as Rishabh Pant and his men won by four wickets to draw level with table-toppers Chennai Super Kings with 16 points in the league stage.

Delhi Capitals will clash with MS Dhoni & co on October 4 in a top of the table encounter in Dubai.

Also Read: IPL 2021: Watch – Avesh Khan Castles Hardik Pandya With A Toe-Crushing Yorker