IPL 2019:- 5 overseas cricketers' who have lit up the season
The basic tenet of the Indian Premier League has been the amalgamation of Indian talent with overseas' superstars.
The overseas cricketers have been crucial to the success of the IPL over the years. This year too, with every passing day, we are seeing the overseas superstars lit up the stage of the tournament.
Last night, Kieron Pollard, with his side requiring a record 133 runs off the last 10 overs, promoted himself at the No.4 spot in the batting-unit and played one of the great T20 innings (83 off 31 balls) to help his side pull off a jailbreak.
Like Pollard, we have scintillating performances from a plethora of International stars that have helped light up the 11th edition of the tournament.
Here's the compilation-
#5 Alzarri Joseph
It might be just two games though but we have already seen the precocious talent of Alzarri Joseph. The 22-year-old West Indian fast bowler and one of the key members of the Windies 2016 U-19 World Cup victory had a dream debut to his IPL career as he claimed the prized wicket of David Warner with his very first delivery- off an inside-edge.
After Warner's wicket, the West Indian went from strength to strength and courtesy incisive pace and bounce proceeded to knock over the SRH batting-unit for 96 in 17.4 overs, handing his side a comprehensive 40-run win.
During his spell of 6-12, Joseph broke a plethora of records like overhauling Sohail Tanvir's 11-year record of best bowling figures [6-14, 2008]; the best figures on MI debut [Previously held by Lasith Malinga [3-15 vs CSK, 2009] and the best figures on IPL debut bettering Andrew Tye's figures of 5-17 against Rising Super Giant two years ago.
But, apart from his spell, it was his demeanor that stood out. Here's a guy that continued playing the Test match for his side a month ago despite the passing of his mother, and here he was on his IPL debut- calm and collected, speaking to his captain to give an insight on his mindset-
“It’s [celebration after taking a wicket] not something I play for. I play for wins. It’s a good feeling but I want to win this tournament,”
And, he did that again in his second game- this time with the bat in his hand to hit the winning runs for his side against the Kings XI Punjab.
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