KNOW YOUR PLAYER
Follow UsVijayakanth Viyaskanth had a quiet Indian Premier League debut against Lucknow Super Giants on May 8 (Wednesday). The legspinner didn’t take a single wicket and gave away 27 runs in his four overs.
The 22-year-old became the third Sri Lankan player to play for the Sunrisers after Kumar Sangakkara and Thisara Perera.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar made things easier for Viyaskanth, who was introduced into the attack straight after the powerplay. The Indian seamer not only got the wickets of Quinton de Kock and Marcus Stoinis but also conceded just seven runs in his first three overs.
The Super Giants were 27/2 at the end of six overs and that allowed Viyaskanth to bowl without any pressure. The legspinner gave away just three singles in his first over, not offering a single freebie to KL Rahul and Krunal Pandya.
Even in the next over, he conceded only four singles. Viyaskanth bowled a half-tracker in his third over, and Nicholas Pooran was quick to pounce on it, slamming it for a boundary in front of square.
He made the same mistake in his final over as well and this time Pooran whacked him for a maximum. There was one more short delivery and Ayush Badoni too got a boundary off him.
Viyaskanth gave away only seven runs in his first two overs but ruined his figures a bit by leaking 20 runs in his last two overs.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t a bad debut for the youngster from Sri Lanka. However, he got dispatched whenever he pitched the ball short and that’s something he will have to avoid in coming games.
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Viyaskanth went unsold in the 2024 Auction but was acquired by SRH for his base price of INR 50 lakh after his countrymate Wanindu Hasaranga was ruled out of the competition due to an injury.
Viyaskanth initially came into the spotlight in 2020 when he became the youngest player - aged 18 years and 364 days - to play in the Lanka Premier League (LPL).
He played for Jaffna Stallions and became the first born-and-bred player from Jaffna - the focal point of a three-decade-long civil war in Sri Lanka - to appear in an internationally televised game.
Viyaskanth had a phenomenal LPL 2022, picking up 13 wickets across eight innings at an average of 16.5 and an economy rate of 6.7. He finished the tournament as the joint third-highest wicket-taker.
The leggie represented Sri Lanka in the Asian Games 2023 in China, where he played only one T20 International (T20I). He has also represented Chattogram Challengers in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
Viyaskanth most recently rose to prominence at the International League T20 (ILT20), where he picked up eight innings in four matches for MI Emirates at an economy rate of 5.43 under the watchful eyes of Mahela Jayawardene, the global head of performance for the franchise.
In fact, Kumar Sangakkara, Rajasthan Royals' (RR) head of cricket operations, brought him in as a net bowler last year in the IPL. Prior to today, he had played 33 T20s, taking 42 wickets at an economy rate of 6.76.
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