3 times an injury replacement won a match for his team in the IPL
Rajasthan Royals (RR) pacer Sandeep Sharma held his nerve under pressure to bowl his team to a close three-run win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in match number 17 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday, April 12.
In a thrilling finish, the 29-year-old managed to hold his own against MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja.
Chennai needed 21 runs to win off the last over, but Sharma began with two wides to bring the equation down to 19 off six balls. After a dot ball, Dhoni clobbered the right-arm pacer for two consecutive sixes.
With seven needed off the last three balls, the momentum was with CSK, but Sharma displayed tremendous composure under pressure and bowled three very good deliveries. Only three runs came off the last three balls as Sharma and RR prevailed.
Intriguingly, despite being a proven performer, Sharma went unsold at the IPL 2023 auction. He was later signed as a replacement for the injured Prasidh Krishna for his base price of ₹50 lakh.
In the wake of Sharma’s last-over heroics, we look at three previous instances where replacement players played a stellar role in a team’s win in the IPL.
#3 Imran Tahir (IPL 2017) - Rising Pune Supergiant
At a time when he was the No.1-ranked T20I bowler, veteran South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir went unsold at the IPL 2017 auction.
However, an injury to Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh saw the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) rope in Tahir as their replacement player. And the Proteas cricketer did not disappoint.
In Rising Pune Supergiant’s very first match in the IPL 2017 edition, he shone with figures of 3/28 against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. Tahir picked up the first three wickets to fall to put MI on the back foot.
The spinner first knocked over Parthiv Patel (19) with a slider as the batter missed his slog sweep. Tahir next dismissed Rohit Sharma (three) with another skidder that kept going with the angle and dislodged the MI skipper’s stumps.
He then had Jos Buttler lbw for 38 off 19, but replays hinted that the batter might have inside-edged the ball onto his pads.
Tahir’s brilliance restricted Mumbai to 184/8, a target Pune chased down by five wickets in 19.5 overs as Ajinkya Rahane (60 off 34) and Steven Smith (84* off 54) played impressive knocks.
#2 Anrich Nortje (IPL 2020) - Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals (DC) named South African fast bowler Anrich Nortje as a replacement for England all-rounder Chris Woakes for the IPL 2020 edition, which was held in the UAE.
He made an instant impact in the tournament and has since become an integral part of the Delhi franchise.
Nortje came up with a number of match-winning performances during the IPL 2020 edition. His standout effort came in a 13-run win over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, where he picked up 2/33 in his four overs and walked away with the Player of the Match honor.
RR were set a 162-run target in the game. Opener Jos Buttler took on Nortje in the third over and slammed him for a six and two fours. However, Nortje knocked over the dangerous Rajasthan opener with a pacy delivery as Buttler went for another hoick. The opener’s dismissal for 22 off nine balls gave DC momentum and RR could not recover from there.
Later, Nortje returned to clean up Robin Uthappa for 32 off 27 balls with a brilliant yorker. Rajasthan were held to 148/8 in their 20 overs as Delhi registered an impressive win.
#1 Rajat Patidar (IPL 2022) - Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) signed Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar as a replacement for the injured Luvnith Sisodia during the IPL 2022 season. The batter, who had previously represented the franchise, was signed for ₹20 lakh.
The signing by RCB proved to be a masterstroke. In the IPL 2022 Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Patidar smashed an unbeaten 112 off 54 balls. The high-quality innings featured 12 fours and seven sixes as RCB put up 207/4 batting first.
LSG could not recover from Patidar’s onslaught and were held to 193/6 despite KL Rahul’s 79 and Deepak Hooda’s 45.