IPL 2017, Match 10, MI vs SRH: CT Player of the Match – Harbhajan Singh

After being left out of the first Mumbai Indian game, the 36-year-old Harbhajan Singh has returned to form in some style. In his very first IPL match this season against Kolkata Knight Riders, Harbhajan managed to bowl well economically conceding only 27 runs in his quota of four overs against a formidable Knight Riders unit consisting of Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav and the dangerous Chris Lynn.

The pitch in Mumbai was a one that the batsmen would have loved to bat on with the par score on the ground being over 170. The batsmen got off to a very good start on the pitch and looked confident to push the total over 180 with power hitters in the form of Yuvraj Singh and Ben Cutting to follow the openers.

The off-spinner came in to bowl with both the left-handed openers from the Sunrisers causing havoc in the middle of the park. The 36-year-old made an immediate impact after a sensational switch-hit from the Sunrisers’ captain David Warner for a six. Immediately after that ball, Harbhajan outfoxed the Australian opener with a straighter one which did not spin as the opener had expected it to.

Soon after that, the veteran scalped Sunrisers’ all-rounder Deepak Hooda, who went for a big shot failing to read the doosra from the offie’s hand. He ended the innings with figures of 2/23 after his full quota of four overs.

Spin Wizard halts Sunrisers’ progress: 

The offie’s introduction by Mumbai Indians’ captain Rohit Sharma was a one that changed the game towards the Mumbaikars. The offie brought about a sudden halt to the free-flowing opening partnership of the visiting Sunrisers side with the wicket of the Australia opener David Warner.

If not for the breakthrough from the seasoned offie it would have been a Warner-carnage at the Wankhede. The openers would have easily shuffled across to help the visitors go past the total of 180 with dew coming as a factor late in the game.

The offie followed it up in his second spell with the wicket of Deepak Hooda. The offie not only managed to pick up two wickets on the night but also managed to bowl economically. The runs came in a struggling manner for the opposition as the 36-year-old cramped the batsmen for room, and it required high skills from the batsmen to score runs in the offie’s over.

On a small ground with the square leg boundaries around 80 metres in length, the off-spinner used up all his experience to pick up wickets at crucial intervals to leave the Sunrisers reeling for runs. The dew did not help the bowlers get settle with the pitch making a good case for the batsmen to make a mark. On a batting friendly pitch, it was the experienced off-spinner who managed to leave a mark with the dew not helping him or the other spinners throughout the entire match.

The 36-year-old still got all the tricks under his hat with the doosra bowled at Sunrisers’ allrounder being an absolute peach. CT gives him a rating of 4 out of the five stars for his incredible spell that halted the Sunrisers’ progress in the middle overs of their innings.