Dubai: Rajasthan Royals (RR) pacer Kartik Tyagi produced the most implausible performance of his nascent career as he pulled off a perfect heist in RR's two-run win over Punjab Kings in the ongoing IPL 2021, here on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old pacer bowled five dots, including two wickets, while defending three runs in the final over against Punjab Kings, who had two set batsmen in the middle in Aiden Markram (26* runs off 20 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (32 off 22).
Speaking at the presentation ceremony after the match, Tyagi said he finds himself fortunate to be part of such a special win of RR, who are now fifth in the points table with eight points.
"I have been talking to people over the years and they keep telling me that things keep changing in this format, so I need to keep believing," said Tyagi. "I've always heard from everyone and also watched games in this format where strange things have happened. Today, I was fortunate to play a big role in something special," Tyagi, who had been part of India's under-19 team, added.
Tyagi, who retained a bowling figure of 2/29, said this win is close to his heart after a period when he had to sit out the first phase of the tournament in India due to an injury.
“I was injured during the India leg of the IPL and by the time I got fit, the tournament was suspended. Felt sad. So this feels really good.” he said.
RR skipper Sanju Samson also heaped praises on Tyagi for the last over and praised his ability to bowl yorkers and delivering it to perfection in intense situations.
"Somewhere we had that fight left. We knew we had some special bowlers. Kept Mustafizur's overs for the end. Tyagi was confident with his yorkers, especially wide-yorkers. Executed them well against the new batters,” Sanju said. (UNI)