A significant alteration was the replacement of Kagiso Rabada, the top pacer, with Liam Livingstone and the addition of young, uncapped Indian player Vidwath Kaverappa to strengthen their pace attack. For Thursday’s (May 9) pivotal game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the Punjab Kings (PBKS) made a few alterations to their starting lineup.
When he was handed the new ball to begin the attack, the 25-year-old Karnataka right-arm seam bowler didn’t take long to win over everyone. Beginning with two dot balls, he nearly got rid of star batsman Virat Kohli in the very next delivery. Ashutosh Sharma had a challenging opportunity after Kohli misplayed his shot as he was coming down the track to hit it for a maximum.
To give himself a fantastic start to his IPL career, he returned in the third over and claimed the crucial wicket of captain Faf du Plessis. Vidwath Kaverappa would have taken his second wicket in the same over if it weren’t for Kohli’s bad luck tonight. Captain Sam Curran made the decision to carry on Kaverappa’s attack.
Despite greeting him with a six in the fifth over, Kohli dismissed the dangerous Will Jacks with the fourth ball. Kaverappa’s frightening pace bowling nearly took Rajat Patidar out, but Harshal Patel missed a sitter at the deep backward square to prevent PBKS from gaining a commanding lead in the match.
There may be yet another bright future member of Team India.
On the domestic circuit in India, Vidwath Kaverappa is among the best seamers. The Karnataka bowler, who is well-known for getting wickets, has taken 23 wickets in 13 innings throughout the Twenty20 competition. Having collected 34 wickets at an average of 21.67 in 10 first-class matches, he is more of a red-ball bowler.
During the 2022–23 Ranji season, he notably finished as Karnataka’s second-highest wicket-taker. He was offered his first IPL contract by the Punjab Kings franchise after his outstanding achievements in the Karnataka Premier League attracted their attention. The speed wonder was purchased at the 2023 IPL auction for Rs 20 lakh.
Also read: In IPL 2024, in Match 58 between PBKS and RCB, why aren’t Glenn Maxwell and Kagiso Rabada participating?
The batters find it difficult to hit him because of his accurate and long bowling. Numerous teams will be keeping a watch on this youthful prodigy because a massive auction is scheduled for next year. Still, these are excellent indications that Indian cricket is well managed.
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