Aakash Chopra reveals an Indian Lasith Malinga on Twitter

In the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a certain bowler was reminiscent of Lasith Malinga, according to commentator and analyst Aakash Chopra. It was Tamil Nadu’s V Athiyasayaraj Davidson of Tamil Nadu who caught his eye during today’s match between Delhi and Tamil Nadu at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

He featured in Chopra’s video posted on his Twitter handle where he is seen bowling with a bowling action similar to that of Malinga, executing a yorker, a delivery that is almost synonymous with the Lankan bowler.

With that unplayable delivery, Davidson had Rishabh Pant on his knees. It was during the 10th over that this happened. Eventually, he ended up with no wicket but will be remembered by Chopra’s tweet. The hashtag of IPL with that tweet obviously meant Chopra sees him as a prospect for the auction.

See the tweet here

Meet The Indian Lasith Malinga… #Davidson #DELvTN #SyedMushtaqAliTrophy #IPL pic.twitter.com/PHBdivBM9x

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 21, 2018

He made his T20 debut on January 18, 2018, against Andhra at Vishakapatnam. He has played for the Tuti Patriots in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. In only his fourth game after his debut in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he picked up a fifer against Karnataka at Vizianagaram. So far he has collected 10 wickets in the tournament. He averages 16.90 and has a strike rate of 12.6 and an economy of 8.04.

It is early to make a call about his future or even his presence in the IPL. Last year, T Natarajan from the TNPL circuit to made the cut in the auction and played a few games for the Kings XI Punjab after being brought by them for 2 Cr. He was called the Indian Fizz, because of similarity with Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman. However, his name is not much talked about now.

The IPL auction will take place on January 27 and 28 with 578 players to go under the hammer. With 18 players retained, 182 slots are up for grabs. A total of 62 capped Indians and 298 uncapped Indian cricketers will vie for the available slots with 182 capped overseas cricketers, 34 uncapped overseas players and two cricketers from Associate Nations.