23-year-old pacer Anshul Kamboj made his debut for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 55th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday, May 6.
Kamboj bowled his first over in the second over of the innings and he looked pretty decent with his lines and lengths. In his first over, the right-arm pacer gave away 14 runs. He then returned to bowling in the fifth over and had to face a no-ball nightmare.
On the 5th ball of the 5th over, Anshul Kamboj bowled a full-length delivery that shaped and rattled the stumps of Australian star Travis Head. As Head walked back to the hut, the referee stopped him and asked him to take the shot again as the pacer had gone too far.
The boy looked pretty dejected after the siren went off and Jasprit Bumrah along with Hardik Pandya came running to motivate the pacer and they spoke to him for a few seconds before he continued bowling. Anshul Kamboj again bowled a no-ball and ended his over with 19 runs.
After bowling two poor overs, Anshul Kamboj finally got a taste of success when he rattled the stumps of SRH No.3 Mayank Agarwal in the eighth over. Notably, Mayank Agarwal returned to the SRH XI for the game against Mumbai Indians after missing a few matches.
I’ll look at the wicket and see what’s there and then just stay nice and relaxed – Travis Head
Australian and SRH star Travis Head spoke to broadcasters before the game and said that he stays fully focused while batting in the powerplay and tries to utilize it to the maximum. Travis Head said:
“I’ll look at the wicket and see what presents itself and then just stay nice and relaxed and be ready when you have to go. You put it all together, how the pitch is set up, who’s bowling, how they might try to get me out.” or I try to suppress it and remember it’s a small ball coming at me and try to concentrate on that.
Travis Head revealed that he generally aims to perform well in one out of every three games he plays. He said:
“I would love to get away every time but since returning to T20 cricket I have set myself the target of doing well in one out of three games. I have to try to understand your game plans and commit to it 100%.”
Travis Head also spoke about SRH’s failure in chases and expressed no concerns about it. He explained:
“You have to summarize what is happening. We didn’t do well in the chase a few times, but I don’t think there’s enough to see it as a trend. The sample size isn’t big enough, so we’re not really worried.” Beyond that, not much changes on the power play. I like the (Australian) jersey, orange for a while and it will be nice to get back into the green.