It was a magical night for Shreyas Gopal.
A night that he will never forget, a night that put him in the limelight like never before.
Within a space of 10 balls, he dismissed Virat Kohli, A.B. de Villiers and Shimron Hetmyer — the first two are among the batting greats of all time, while the third is one of the world’s most exciting young batsmen.
On a pleasant Tuesday night at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, none of them had an answer to the questions posed by his googlies.
Turning the match
Shreyas’s spell turned the match in favour of Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore and ended the team’s run of three defeats.
It could well be one of the best spells by a spinner in the IPL ever. Sairaj Bahutule, former India Test leg-spinner and now a coach with the Royals, believes so.
“What he achieved was a leg-spinner’s dream, getting all those wrong ‘uns so right at such a crucial juncture of the match,” Bahutule told The Hindu here on Wednesday. “I particularly liked the way he clean-bowled Kohli.”
A strong point
The coach also praised the temperament of the 25-year-old Karnataka all-rounder. “That is actually one of his strengths as a bowler,” he said. “He has an excellent googly. He could turn the ball sharply and is an attacking bowler.”
Bahutule feels Shreyas has the potential to play for India. “I think this performance could be a turning point for him,” he said. “He has also done well in the red-ball cricket.”
At the IPL it was last year that he got noticed; he took 11 wickets at an economy rate of 7.61. This time around, he has brought it down to 5.58 and has six wickets.
About the spell against RCB, Shreyas said it was one of the best moments of his career. “Getting Kohli and de Villiers getting in the same match is a dream for any youngster,” he said.