Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who is undoubtedly one of the franchise’s best fielders, nailed an incredible direct hit to remove the in-form Mumbai Indians (MI) batsman Tilak Varma, the Tuesday, April 30 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
Tilak Varma has been the biggest positive for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the batting department in the current edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Despite the entire team struggling and speculation that the team would split into two groups following the appointment of Hardik Pandya as captain, Tilak Varma has kept his full focus on his batting and has been scoring runs consistently.
In 10 matches, Tilak Varma scored 343 runs for the franchise at a good average of 42.88 and an astonishing strike rate of 153.81. The left-handed batsman has so far scored three half-centuries in the competition.
Tilak Varma came into the match against LSG in great form as he had recorded two scores above 60 in his previous two outings against Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals. However, he could not continue his brilliant form and had to walk a long way back to the pavilion after being sent off for 11-ball 7 against LSG.
On the first ball of the sixth over, Naveen-ul-Haq bowled a full toss to Tilak which clipped his pads. The players made a snap appeal from LBW and the ball rolled to Ravi Bishnoi at one back point. The spinner was quick to grab the ball and nailed a sensational direct hit to end Tilak Varma’s innings.
Watch – Tilak Varma runs out thanks to Ravi Bishnoi’s direct hit
Lucknow Supergiants in 🔝⚡️
A straight hit 🎯 followed by a grab from behind as #MI is now down 4 in the Powerplay!
Watch the match LIVE on @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia 💻📱#TATAIPL | #LSGvMI | @LucknowIPL pic.twitter.com/D7eAFTbr2J
– IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 30, 2024
Talking more about Ravi Bishnoi, he was recently dropped from India’s 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad chosen by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee despite being ranked fifth. ICC Men’s T20I Bowling Championship. India has selected Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal as four bowlers in the team.
Earlier, Lucknow Super Giants won the toss and elected to bowl first in the match. At the toss, KL Rahul said that they chose to bowl first because they wanted to put pressure on MI’s batsmen. KL Rahul explained:
“We are going to bowl first. Wicket is looking good, we want to put pressure on their batsmen and look to chase it. We will try to stay as balanced as possible. We need to go out and put on a show. We have had some good wins. .
“Few changes, Quinton is missing. Kulkarni is in the team. Mayank is also back. He has bowled very well, has a big impact. I have been putting pressure on the physios and the medical team. Mayank is eager to leave. It is important that “It takes his mind off the fact that he had an injury.”
The pitching decision turned out to be great for the team as the Lucknow Super Giants bowlers did a great job and reduced Mumbai Indians to 27/4 in 5.2 overs.