“I plan that batsmen will want to go for their shots because it’s a small ground, so I have a chance for wickets. I bowl a fuller length, so I have a chance for lbws if they miss the sweep and reverse-sweep,” he said after being adjudged man of the match in the series decider. The Haryana native does get hit, but he also gets wickets. In the last two IPL seasons, he polished off 44 wickets. “It always feels like home. I’ve bowled in the Powerplay before in the IPL, and Virat has confidence in me that I can do that.”
T20I stats have a tendency of catching you by surprise. Part of the reason is that unlike Tests and ODIs, the international version of cricket’s slambang format, outside of the World T20s, is overshadowed by glitzy leagues. The bilateral series have little relevance or recall value. So many statistical anomalies go unnoticed. Until they are corrected.
