The second day of the Indian Premier League was special because....

By K.R. Nayar 

Delhi Capitals recorded an easy win over Chennai Super Kings on Day 2 of the IPL. Here are four interesting nuggets from that match

Avesh Khan being applauded by his teammates. Photo: Courtesy IPL  

Avesh Khan: From a net bowler to a deadly pacer

Avesh Khan proved that he deserves to play for India soon.  Trapping Chennai opener Faf Du Plessis leg before for a duck and then getting skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni clean bowled, this 24-year-old pacer has announced that he deserves to play international cricket soon.  Avesh can generate a good pace and bowl at over 140kmph. Avesh Khan had figured among the top 20 bowlers who have bowled the fastest delivery twice in the IPL 2018.  He once bowled at 149.12 and on another occasion, it was 148.74kmph. In the match against Chennai on Saturday (April 10), his fastest delivery clocked 143.06. Delhi Capital’s pacer Anrich Nortje, who is going through quarantine and did not play the match, had bowled the fast delivery in IPL history clocking 156.2kmph against Rajasthan Royals in the 2020 IPL edition. Born in Indore, a city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, this pacer plays for Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy and recently completed 100 wickets from his 26 first class matches. For India’s Test series against England recently, he was one among the five net bowlers. If he is able to maintain his consistency, then very soon he may go on to become one of India’s frontline bowlers.

Sam Curran during his breezy knock. Photo Courtesy IPL 

Curran family that serves cricket

It was an irony of sorts when the Curran brothers, Sam and Tom, played against each other in the Delhi Capitals versus Chennai Super Kings match on Saturday.  Before the start of the match, Sam Curran of Chennai had remarked that since he was playing against his elder brother, his mother would be nervous. And in the match, Sam was severe on Tom and thrashed his bowling.  This thrashing is unlikely to upset Tom since all their life they have played and practiced together wanting to excel in the game. Both play for the Surrey County team in England. Their father Kevin Curran, who had played for Zimbabwe, has taught them the values of cricket. Six-feet two-inch tall Kevin, who was also a pacer, had played in 11 One Day Internationals and then gone on to become a coach. When Kevin died in October 2012, he was the head of Zimbabwe Cricket Academy. Interestingly, Kevin’s father was also a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Rhodesia in the 1940s. Kevin’s full name was Kevin Malcolm Curran and his father’s name was Kevin Patrick Curran.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is bowled for a duck. Photo Courtesy IPL  

Why is Dhoni’s duck a talking point?

Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni got out for a rare duck on Saturday against Delhi Capitals pacer Avesh Khan. What made that duck a talking point was because Dhoni has not got out for a duck in his last 108 T20 games. It was six years ago in 2015, against Mumbai Indians, that Dhoni was last dismissed for a duck. Many of his stunned fans tweeted expressing their sorrow. At the same tie, some of his critics ensured they reacted and addressed him as 'Scoreless Thala'. Thirty-nine-year-old Dhoni is known as Thala, which in Tamil means leader. Suresh Raina is addressed as Chinna (small) Thala. Raina top-scored with 54 in the match.

Shikhar Dhawan takes one of his three catches. Photo: Courtesy IPL 

Shikhar Dhawan records a hat-trick of thigh slap

Delhi Capitals opener Shikhar Dhawan always celebrates completing a catch by slapping his thighs. He did it thrice against Chennai Super Kings after he took the catches of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, and Ambati Rayudu.  During an interview, he'd once revealed that he'd picked up this style of celebration after watching Kabaddi. Dhawan is addressed by his teammates as Gabbar and entertains everyone in the dressing room through his dancing skills. In this match, he got the Chennai bowlers to dance to his tune while cracking a brilliant 85 and walked away with the man of the match award. He slapped two sixes and ten boundaries during his knock.