Young pacer Avesh Khan claimed 4 wickets for 18 in India's 82-run win after having registered with the figures of 0/35, 0/17 and 0/35 in the first three T20Is.
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After having lost two back-to-back matches, Team India bounced back with a bang and registered two consecutive victories and levelled the five-match T20I series by 2-2 with one game in hand against South Africa. However, after losing both the games, they could opt for a change in the team, but they stuck to the same players and played an unchanged eleven over four matches as well. And, the players kept the faith intact with their performances, including the young pacer Avesh Khan, who had claimed 4 wickets for 18 in India’s 82-run win after having registered with the figures of 0/35, 0/17 and 0/35 in the first three T20Is.
After the win, Avesh Khan went on to credit head coach Rahul Dravid for that in his post-match press conference. “The team hasn’t changed over four games, so credit to Rahul (Dravid) sir. He gives chances to everybody and intends to give them a long enough run. He doesn’t drop a player after one or two bad performances because you cannot judge a player on the basis of one or two games. Everyone is getting enough matches to prove themselves,” Avesh said.
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He also shared that he wasn’t looking to bowl off-pace on a track that wasn’t helping the batters. Instead, he tried to hit the hard length, a decision he took after a mid-match discussion with Ishan Kishan. “Yes, there was pressure on me. I had zero wickets in three games but Rahul sir and the team management gave me another opportunity today and I ended up picking four wickets. It’s also my papa’s birthday, so it’s a gift for him too. Whenever we are batting first, I always end up asking the batters how the wicket played, whether it was two-paced or not,” Avesh said.
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“I spoke to Ishan (Kishan) today and he said that hard length balls aren’t easy to play; some are bouncing, some are stopping and the others are keeping low. Then I planned to attack the stumps and bowl the hard lengths consistently. It’s in my hands to bowl well, not pick wickets. The slower ball wasn’t very effective on today’s wicket, so I tried to bowl hard lengths with the occasional bouncer to change things up. Today’s wicket wasn’t easy for batters, it was two-paced although DK bhai, Hardik and Rishabh all played well. 170 was a very good total on this wicket and all we wanted to ensure was pick a couple of wickets in the powerplay,” Avesh Khan concluded.
The fifth and final T20I will take place on Sunday, June 19 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. It will be interesting to see if the host manages to seal the deal or if the visitors have the last laugh.
