The young fast bowler from Delhi Capitals – Avesh Khan had a dream run in IPL 2021 before BCCI halted the tournament midway due to the COVID-19 surge. The young pacer recently revealed how DC skipper Rishabh Pant had helped him in plotting the dismissal of MS Dhoni, in their season opener against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
The fast bowler from Madhya Pradesh dismissed Faf Du Plessis on a duck to give his team a perfect start before getting rid of Dhoni on a duck as well. Avesh had finished with figures of 2/23 in the game and didn’t look back from there as he continued to deliver impressive performances for his team.
How Rishabh Pant and Avesh Khan planned MS Dhoni’s wicket?
During an interaction with The Indian Express after the suspension of IPL 2021, Avesh revealed how Rishabh Pant helped him dismiss Dhoni in the game. Knowing that Dhoni was looking to go after the bowler but was not in the best of touch due to lack of competitive cricket, Pant had asked Avesh to bowl a short of a length delivery.
“Only a few overs were left, and Pant knew Dhoni would try to hit out. But he also knew that Dhoni was playing after a gap of four months, and it won’t be easy for him. Pant told me to bowl just short of a length. I did just that. Dhoni tried to hit, but got an inside edge and was bowled,” Avesh said.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Avesh Khan had revealed he had always dreamt of getting MS Dhoni’s wicket and that his dream was finally fulfilled. Incidentally, the ball kept low and took an inside edge of Dhoni’s bat before crashing onto the stumps.
“Three years ago, I had a chance to take Mahi bhai’s wicket, but somebody had dropped the catch. But now my dream of taking Mahi bhai’s wicket is fulfilled, so I am very happy about it. Since he has not played competitive matches for some time, we had planned to put pressure on him, and because of that pressure I could take his wicket,” Avesh had said.
Meanwhile, Avesh Khan picked up 14 wickets in 8 matches for Delhi Capitals and was their leading wicket-taker before postponing the tournament. In the wake of his brilliant show, the selectors picked him as a reserve bowler for the tour of the UK including the ICC World Test Championship final.