Ian Bishop and Gautam Gambhir, former cricketers turned commentators have opined that Avesh Khan has a brighter future in terms of national team selection ahead of Harshal Patel. The pace duo has been leading the pack in terms of wickets and the race for the purple cap.
Harshal Patel leads the wickets charts by a significant margin and has already set the record for the most wickets taken by an Indian pacer in the history of the tournament. However, both Ian Bishop and Gautam Gambhir sided with Avesh Khan as their pick.
Ian Bishop: Avesh Khan Can Bowl Across Different Phases Of The Innings With Great Impact Than Harshal Patel
Ian Bishop felt pacer Avesh Khan has the ability to bowl with equal proficiency across all stages of the game. Ian Bishop feels his age gave him a significant headstart over Harshal Patel in terms of the race for national team selection.
“Avesh Khan can bowl across different phases of the innings with great impact. He can bowl with the new ball, nip it in, he cam bowl in the middle and hustle you with pace. Harshal is slightly different, depends more on batsmen coming at him. So, you can compartmentalize them in different packages. The greater upside belongs to Avesh Khan if he can continue on the trend,” said Ian Bishop.
The former U-19 cricketer has been able to keep bowlers like Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav away from the Delhi Capitals playing XI. Avesh Khan has also matched the rhythm of world-class bowlers like Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. Avesh Khan was selected for the tour of England earlier this year as a net bowler, but his maiden stint was cut short after he suffered an injury in a warm-up fixture.
Avesh Khan is second on the list for the purple cap with 22 wickets in 13 matches averaging 15.9. Only Harshal Patel, with 29 wickets in 13 matches, is ahead of the Madhya Pradesh cricketer. Incidentally, they will play against each other in the RCB-DC clash in the final league game.
Gautam Gambhir: Avesh Khan Can Bowl At Different Situations
Gautam Gambhir felt Avesh Khan’s skill set makes him a huge asset and picked him ahead of Harshal Patel for a potential national team call-up in the future. He named Avesh Khan the ‘standalone’ bowler of the tournament.
In this regard, Gambhir said: “Avesh Khan can bowl at different situations of the game. He is bowling alongside the likes of Rabada and Nortje and he has not looked any less than them, and they are world class bowlers. “
“He can bowl over 140, I still remember the yorker he bowled to Pandya at Sharjah, so the skillset is there. So, Avesh Khan is closer and I will probably pick Avesh Khan before, he has been the stand-alone bowler in this tournament,” Gambhir added.
Avesh Khan was roped in by the Delhi Capitals for a sum of ₹75 lakh in the IPL 2018 auction. He made sporadic appearances for the franchise in his initial years but has now cemented his place in the playing XI on the back of some tremendous performances at IPL 2021.
Harshal Patel is the leading wicket-taker in IPL 2021 so far, with as many as 29 scalps in 13 matches averaging an impressive 14. This is his best tally since debuting in IPL 2012. The current Purple Cap holder pacer picked a hat-trick and returned with a four-wicket haul, conceding just 17 runs from his 3.1 over spell against Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians.