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'Realised I shouldn't have done this': Young star admits regret in heated LSG vs RCB match in IPL 2023
The matches between LSG and RCB in the 2023 season of the IPL featured a number of dramatic moments.
The 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) featured a number of dramatic matches but the one that perhaps stood out for animosity between two sides was the league fixture between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). While most of it revolved around RCB stalwart Virat Kohli, LSG's Afghanistan all-rounder Naveen-ul-Haq and later their team mentor Gautam Gambhir during the two teams' match in Lucknow, other players had also been caught up in the emotions of the game in the first match played between the two sides.
LSG fast bowler Avesh Khan was one such player. Avesh celebrated LSG's victory in that game by throwing helmet to the ground after completing the winning run. Avesh faced just one delivery in the match, which was the last ball of the game. Before that, bowler Harshal Patel had botched up an attempt to run out the non-striker before bowling his delivery. When he finally bowled the delivery, it beat Avesh's outside edge but the batters set off for the run and were successful. LSG had thus chased down a mammoth target of 213 and Avesh celebrated by taking off his helmet and smashing it to the ground.
Avesh has now said that he regrets doing that. “Yeh social media mein mera mahool bana rehta hai and helmet incident thoda jyada hogaya tha (There is always something about me on social media but this helmet incident was a bit too much). I realised later that I shouldn’t have done this. It just happened in the heat of the moment. I now feel sad that yaar yeh sab cheez nahi karna tha (shouldn't have done all this),” Khan told The Indian Express.
While Avesh was seen as a regular for the shorter formats after the 2022 IPL, he was forgotten soon and didn't make it to the squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup. While Avesh is hoping that the selectors consider him for the upcoming series in the West Indies, he admitted that he didn't have the best of seasons in the IPL.
“If you compare my past two IPL seasons before this one, it went the way I wanted too. However, even though the season didn’t go well as per my standard, I maintained my economy rate which is less than 10. I bowl crucial overs 4 or 5th over and later in death,” he points out, explaining how this season has witnessed more 200 runs games and all bowlers have a higher economy rate," he said.
Avesh said that head coach Andy Flower and bowling coach Morne Morkel were impressed with his efforts early on in the season, in which he bowled despite recovering from an injury. “I had stitches in my web and still I bowled in initial IPL games. He openly said that he likes my attitude that puts the team above everything else. I took a painkiller and took an injection in my hand and everyone praised me after the game,” he said.
