23-year-old pacer Anshul Kamboj made his debut for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 55th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday, 6 May.

Kamboj came to bowl his first over in the second over of the innings and looked quite decent with his lines and lengths. In his first over, the right-arm pacer gave away 14 runs. He then bowled again in the fifth over and had to face a ballless nightmare.

On the fifth ball of the fifth over, Anshul Kamboj bowled a full delivery that shaped and rattled the stumps of Australian star Travis Head. As Head walked back to the hut, the umpire stopped him and asked him to take the strike again as the pacer had overstepped.

The youngster looked quite dejected after the siren went on and Jasprit Bumrah along with Hardik Pandya ran in to motivate the pacer and spoke to him for a few seconds before he continued bowling. Anshul Kamboj again bowled a no-ball and finished the over by giving away 19 runs.

After bowling two poor overs, Anshul Kamboj finally tasted success when he rattled the stumps of SRH No.3 Mayank Agarwal in the eighth over. Notably, Mayank Agarwal returned to the SRH XI for the match against Mumbai Indians after missing a few matches.

I look at the wicket and see what presents itself and then I stay nice and relaxed – Travis Head

Australia and SRH star Travis Head spoke to the announcers before the match and said that he remains fully focused while batting in the powerplay and tries to utilize it to the fullest. Travis Head said:

“I take a look at the wicket and see what’s coming up and then I stay nice and relaxed and I’m ready when needed. You summarize everything, how the pitch is set up, who’s bowling, how they might try to get me out or restrict my “I try to shut it down and remember that it’s a little ball coming at me and I try to focus on that. You don’t want to waste any opportunities on the power play.”

Travis Head revealed that he generally aims to perform well in 1 out of every 3 games he plays. He said:

“I would love to always go out, but since I returned to T20 cricket, my aim is to do well in 1 out of every 3 games. I need to try to understand your game plans and be 100% committed to that.

Travis Head also spoke about SRH’s failure in the chases and did not express any concerns about it. He stated:

“You have to summarize what’s happening. We haven’t done well a couple of times while chasing, but I don’t think there’s enough to see it as a trend. It’s not a big enough sample size, so we’re not really worried.” On that note, there aren’t many changes on the power play. “I like that (Australian) kit, orange for a while and going back to green will be good.”

Watch: Anshul Kamboj punishes Travis Head but is denied ground

AA