Avesh Khan finds his range as strike bowler

Pace, slower balls and yorkers, he used them all to turn a match in Lucknow Super Giants’ favour.

The true scale of the unpredictability of T20 cricket can be put down to what Avesh Khan experienced in a space of three deliveries in Monday night’s humdinger: a massive six over deep square-leg, a dot and then a wicket. Every run saved in that 18th over by Khan (he conceded seven) created an advantage exploited admirably by Andrew Tye and Jason Holder in subsequent overs. But where it really towered above the others was in effectively killing the chase in two balls.

Lucknow Super Giants' Avesh Khan celebrates(ANI)

This is what Khan brings to the table when cricket is rapidly becoming a data-influenced sport. And in this format, economy matters more than strike rate. Khan adopts a different approach though. “I always try to take wickets because that’s what the team wants from me. I wanted wickets in powerplay and also slog-overs phase,” he said, after the match. In this age of fast bowlers—Umran Malik could set the stage on fire with his 150kph—Khan proved again that pace need not be everything. He adds guile, accuracy and a lot of thought to every ball.

Like when he went about dismissing Sunrisers Hyderabad captain and opener Kane Williamson. “I noticed that slower balls were working well in the first innings, so I thought I’d do that as a variation in the powerplay,” Khan said. Slow it was but Khan also stayed full and wide to Williamson, forcing him to walk across and attempt a ramp that went awry. When Khan began the 18th over, Sunrisers needed 33 with Nicholas Pooran, on 28 off 21 then, primed to go into overdrive. Lurking at the back of the mind was the fact that the chasing team had won seven out of the first eight IPL matches. And that when he was asked to defend 10 in the last over for Lucknow Super Giants in their first match, Khan had conceded the game in four balls. “I know there are 14 matches in every IPL and I would have the opportunity again. I was ready today,” Khan said.

The first ball was short but not quick enough, allowing Pooran to almost flat-bat it for a six. But Khan wasn’t thwarted. “T20 is a one-ball game. I got hit for a six so the plan was to go for the yorker, get in five good balls,” he said. Nailing a fourth-stump yorker was just the boost Khan needed to ramp up the pressure. He tried to fire in another yorker next ball but it became a full toss, the kind that tends to upend the balance of batters trying to find the best shot in a fraction of a second. Already committed to the pull though, Pooran holed out to long-off. And then there was that follow-up delivery, with a hint of inswing on a length just short of blockhole that Abdul Samad edged to wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock.

Those two wickets, along with Williamson’s, adequately sum up Khan’s range. He doesn’t have the swing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar but a subtler, wilier version that is harder to counter. His yorkers can be a conspiracy of pace and pinpoint accuracy and the slowers have the potential to surprise. These are prospective signs of a great fast bowler in the making, possibly a leader. One who made place for himself in a Delhi Capitals pace attack comprising Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada last season.

At a new franchise, the brief for Khan clearly is to be the strike bowler. “Gautam (Gambhir, their mentor) bhai, Andy Bichel (bowling coach), Andy Flower (chief coach), KL (Rahul) bhai—they always tell me you are our main bowler. You will win us matches,” said Khan. But when he is by himself at the top of his run-up, Khan doesn’t want to overthink. “How you handle pressure every day is key. I never thought of myself as the main bowler of the team. If I do that I put myself under pressure.”