Abishek Porel - much more than Rishabh Pant's back-up

Abishek Porel had done very little of significance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) so far. His claim to fame was the fact that he was Rishabh Pant’s replacement in the league last season. However, he had shown promise with the bat – with the six over point of Alzarri Joseph showing his prowess. However, he managed just 33 runs at 106.45 in four matches. 

On March 23 (Saturday) alone, Porel, who came in as an impact player after DC found themselves in a spot of bother, smashed 32* off just 10 deliveries to give his side a competitive total at Mullanpur. 

25 of his 32 runs came in just one over, playing an array of shots to potentially give DC at least 20 extra runs.

He was up against Harshal Patel, who had picked up two wickets with short deliveries. He tried the same ploy against Porel, who had faced just four deliveries, but the 21-year-old was up for it, getting into the line of the ball to pull it to the backward square-leg fence.

He can’t do it again, can he?

The second hit was even better: Harshal overcompensates by going full and Porel cross-bats it through mid-wicket for a six – a much-needed one. Another short ball followed and was pulled for a four in the backward square-leg region once again.

Harshal was rattled. A bowler who came into prominence for his pinpoint death bowling, was slaughtered around the park AT THE DEATH and that too, by a batter who was playing just his fifth IPL innings. 

It looked like Harshal just wanted to get done with this over. Another ball banged in short and it was just eased to the third-man fence. Perhaps Harshal needed to be reminded of a bowler’s best friend during this phase – a damn Yorker!

It was either short or a full slower delivery from the pacer and he bowled a slow on one cue which was just picked up over the square-leg fence. As a typical left-hander, Porel’s arc was between deep square-leg and deep mid-wicket. He backed himself to clear the boundaries against a veteran bowler and did that with utmost ease.

Coming in as an impact player is not something new for Porel. In fact, before he was drafted in by DC last season, all three of his T20 innings came as an impact player, but he managed just 22 runs overall, with a highest score of 20*.

Porel’s wicketkeeping skill too has been taken notice of. The fact that he replaced someone as safe as Wriddhman Saha behind the wickets at Bengal is a testament to that. His knock against PBKS was reminiscent of Dhruv Jurel's innings last season, where his unbeaten 15-ball 32 against PBKS almost took his side over the like. Like Porel, he too came in as an impact player - and is also a wicketkeeper. 

Though Porel may not take the gloves in the presence of Pant, it is certainly heartening for DC to know that they may have unlocked a player of similar qualities, at least for this season, if not beyond.

When you talk of impact, look no further than this brilliant knock.

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