Hyderabad/Lucknow:The Sunday night belonged to Vidarbha pacer Yash Ravisingh Thakur, who clinched a fifer to help his side Lucknow SuperGiants register a comfortable 33-run win against Gujarat Titans in their Indian Premier League game at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.
The 25-year-old Yash Thakur, who has risen in ranks, has played a key role in Vidarbha's success in domestic cricket, clinched his maiden Man of the Match Award in the cash-rich league and the right-arm speedster was on cloud nine.
Thakur's spectacular effort with the ball earned him fine figures of 5 for 30 as Lucknow SuperGiants bowled out the opposition to 130 after putting up 163 for 5 on the board.
Thakur, who made his first-class debut versus Chhattisgarh in 2018 at Raipur, is an integral part of the Vidarbha team. And he was there in the Vidarbha team that ended up as runners-up in the Ranji Trophy 2023-2024 side.
"First of all, I'm very happy that I bagged the first Man of the Match Award in the IPL (Indian Premier League) and I want to thank the team's coaches Morne (Morkel) Sir and Justin (Langer) Sir and KL (Rahul) Bhai for showing so much belief in me," Thakur told reporters at the post-match press conference.
"Yes the total was 160, but we knew that the pitch was becoming slower. And we stuck to our plans. I used variations including bouncers and slower ones and I got success and so (Rahul) Bhaiya asked me to continue," added Kolkata-born Thakur.
Lucknow Super Giants suffered a blow when upcoming pacer Mayank Yadav, who won two successive Man of the Match Awards, walked off the field due to a side strain. After that KL Rahul, the LSG skipper gave confidence to Yash Thakur, saying he should keep his belief and it was his day to shine.
It was Thakur's third game this IPL season after remaining wicketless in the game against Rajasthan Royals (0 for 43) and taking a lone wicket in the game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (1 for 38). Be it Ranji or any other competitive games, Yash Thakur says he keeps his "mind clear" and keeps his focus on the controllable instead of thinking about the uncontrollable.
"This is what I have been thinking about from the start of the season," quipped Thakur, who has 67 first class wickets from 22 games. Thakur has no specific range where he can bowl and is comfortable bowling during any period from overs 1 to 20. He says that he prepares to bowl during any time of the game.