IPL 2019: First-over hitman Jason Behrendorff eyes World Cup ticket
Before Behrendorff bagged Rayudu’s wicket in his first over on his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, the left-arm pacer had done the same to Shikhar Dhawan on his ODI debut at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January earlier this year.
What is common among Mark Cosgrove, Aaron Finch, Shikhar Dhawan and Ambati Rayudu? The answer is, all of them have been dismissed by Australia pacer Jason Behrendorff in his first over on debut in different formats or competitions.
Before Behrendorff bagged Rayudu’s wicket in his first over on his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, the left-arm pacer had done the same to Shikhar Dhawan on his ODI debut at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January earlier this year.
The Western Australia quick had built on his knack of picking up wickets in his first over on debut. In 2010-11, on his List A debut in Ryobi ODI Cup, he claimed the wicket of Cosgrove in his first over. A year later, on his Big Bash League (BBL) debut for Perth Scorchers against Melbourne Renegades, Behrendorff removed Aaron Finch off the last ball of his first over.
Though he couldn’t reprise his first-over heroics when he made his T20I debut against India in 2017 — he bowled only one over in that rain-curtailed game in Ranchi — he compensated for it by getting the prized scalps of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in his first over in the second match in Guwahati.
On Wednesday, Behrendorff bagged a second wicket when he had Suresh Raina caught by Kieron Pollard at the point boundary in his third over. His match figures of 2/22 broke the back of CSK’s run-chase.
The 28-year-old, who was part of Australia’s ODI team that whitewashed Pakistan in the UAE recently, now hopes that doing well in the IPL might help him earn a place in the World Cup squad due a couple of weeks.
“Any performance here can really help me. My strength is swinging the new ball up front and taking some wickets. So it was good to be able to do that tonight and stay in the selectors’ mind,” he said in the post-match media conference.
Behrendorff can form a potent opening pair with pace spearhead Mitchell Starc who is currently recuperating from an injury but is an almost certainty in the England-bound squad. Behrendorff believes it would be quite exciting if he gets to share the new ball with another left-arm pacer.
“It is not foreign to have two left-handers in the team. Australia have not done it a lot in the past but I don’t see why we can’t do that. Mitch (Starc) bowls exceptionally well at the death and can also bowl at the middle and up front. So, if both of us are picked, it may be a case of us having different roles. I might bowl up front and Mitch may look to bowl through the middle and at the end. It would be quite exciting,” he said.
On being asked about his experience of playing in his first IPL and comparing it with the BBL, he said, “It’s different, both are extremely good competitions. This (IPL) of course has a few more stars with four internationals as against two per team. It’s different conditions as well, quite warm and humid — something I’m not quite used to, so you have to make sure your hands remain dry.”