Photo: BCCI
PhotoSRH couldn’t have asked for this bad a start to their tournament opener against RCB. First, their foreign recruit Mitchell Marsh got injured while bowling his first over and didn’t take part in the field. The next incident was the threatening collision between Rashid Khan and Abhishek Sharma that shook the players in the field as well as the cricket fans.
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Match was all but gone for SRH when they needed 30 runs from 19 balls with Rashid Khan and Abhishek Sharma at the crease. Their last hope was this pair as Mitchell Marsh was injured and was not sent into bat at that point in time. Abhishek Sharma, who showed great intent by hitting Yuzvendra Chahal for a 4 down the track was their last hope along with Rashid Khan but then, this unfortunate incident took place as both the batsmen collided with each other in the middle of the pitch. Abhishek Sharma was rn out at the striker’s end as Rashid Khan fell flat on the wicket without any movement.
In the end, after the medication, he stood his ground and played.
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All the eyes were on the RCB opener who was making his debut, Devdutt Padikkal. He played his natural game and exploited the fielding restrictions to a great deal. He scored 37 runs from the power play of 26 balls at 8.5 runs per over and helped RCB to a perfect start.
Although he did slowed down in the middle as he managed to score only 19 runs from 16 balls at 7.13 runs per over, he showed what a quality prospect he can be. There is no doubt about his ability but it was more about the intent and he will be looking to score quickly in the middle phase as well.
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