JioCinema IPL expert Parthiv Patel was incredibly astonished by the 19-year-old’s performance in his IPL debut at the renowned Eden Gardens.
The Kolkata Knight Riders defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 81 runs at Eden Gardens, thanks to a magnificent performance by the host team. KKR scored 204 runs in the first inning while batting first, spearheaded by Shardul Thakur’s 68 runs in 29 deliveries and Rahmanullah Gurbaaz’s 57 runs the star opening pair of Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis appeared to be getting into their stride, the spinners were introduced, and from that point on, it was all KKR.
The Challengers were wiped out for 123 after Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, and Suyash Sharma took nine wickets between them. On April 6, Suyash Sharma made his IPL debut and played a pivotal role in the victory. His bowling annihilated the RCB batting order and he showed great promise by taking three wickets.
“He left an impression because of the way he bowled. We have witnessed him bowling for Delhi’s Under-25 team. According to Nitish (Rana), he is a unique leg-spinner. He leans more towards a curveball, but he also has speed. His confidence is particularly evident when he requests a DRS decision from the captain.
Clearly, he has a great deal of self-confidence. It is highly commendable that he was able to perform so well in front of 70,000 spectators despite never having played first-class cricket, neither against Mushtaq Ali nor Vijay Hazare. “It’s extremely difficult to execute under pressure,” Parthiv Patel stated.
After a strong start by Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, the spin bowlers for KKR dismissed both of them in consecutive overs, turning the match in their favor. Varun Chakaravarthy removed du Plessis, while Sunil Narine dismissed Kohli.
JioCinema IPL expert Suresh Raina praised Chakaravarthy’s self-assurance, stating, “Today, we witnessed both accuracy and velocity from Varun’s bowling. Over the past year, we have not seen as much velocity because the ball has not been leaving the wicket. He returned after suffering a shoulder injury and a knee injury. Based on how he secured the ball, he appears to be in excellent physical condition. When you return from an injury and perform well at the beginning of a tournament, your confidence transforms.
Parthiv expected his former team in Bangalore to win based on their dominance on paper, but he gave KKR their flowers for a well-deserved victory tonight: “I was rooting for RCB and wanted them to win tonight. In terms of individual players, RCB is the superior team. However, I must commend the Kolkata Knight Riders for their performance. RCB was initially dominant, but KKR staged a comeback. We kept discussing the tricky nature of the pitch and how the KKR spinners bowled, but the shot selection of the RCB batsmen will cause them to question whether or not they chose the correct shots. It was painful to witness RCB lose.”
India
