India’s pacer Ishant Sharma was forced to sit out against CSK in the opening match of DC on Saturday night.
Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals beat three-time champions Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede Stadium in the second match of the 2021 IPL. However, one sign of concern for Indians was the absence of pace bowler Ishant Sharma.
According to a report in IANS, Ishant Sharma had to miss the opening game of Delhi Capitals because of a niggle he’s carrying.
In the 2020 IPL, Ishant Sharma was ruled out of the tournament early after he suffered a ‘left internal oblique muscle tear’ in his rib cage. Sharma also had to miss the entire tour of Australia because of not recovering fully in time. He made his return to international cricket against England in Tests.
Ishant Sharma has played 90 IPL matches, picking 72 wickets at an economy rate of 8.09. He also has a 5-fer to his name in the tournament.
Young Avesh with an impressive outing in the absence of Ishant Sharma
Apart from Ishant Sharma, Delhi Capitals were also without the services of South African pace duo Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, who had to complete the mandatory quarantine requirement. DC brought in Chris Woakes and Tom Curran in place of them. For an Indian pace slot, DC surprised everyone and played Avesh Khan instead of Umesh Yadav.
Living up to the trust put in by the management, Avesh Khan bowled an extraordinary spell. Avesh bowled fast and even extracted some movement. He picked two important wickets of CSK, Faf du Plessis and MS Dhoni. Avesh returned with the figures of 2 for 23 in four overs.
Delhi Capitals chased down the target of 189 with 7 wickets and 8 balls to spare thanks to the onslaught by the opening duo of Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan. The duo smacked every CSK bowler and put up a partnership of 138 in 13.3 overs for the first wicket. Prithvi Shaw on his home ground, scored 72 off 38 deliveries while Dhawan top scored with 85 off 54. The Capitals will look to continue this dominating form as they go further in the league.
