Yash Thakur finds solace in the weight of expectations, unlike others. Encouraged by his Lucknow Super Giants skipper K L Rahul's confidence in him following Mayank Yadav's injury, the young pacer delivered his debut five-wicket haul in the IPL.
The 25-year-old from Vidarbha had the spotlight firmly planted on him after pace spearhead Yadav suffered a side strain and left the field mid-match against Gujarat Titans here on Sunday night.
Thakur returned figures of 5/30, including the wicket of GT captain Shubman Gill. This was his maiden five-wicket haul in the IPL and helped his team defeat Gujarat Titans by 33 runs, besides earning him the player of the match honors.
"Mayank is an extraordinary player and the speed he generates. I know my limitations and I know my strength and I only back my strengths," Thakur said of his teammate, who has bowled the fastest delivery of this IPL. Giving an update on Yadav, Thakur said his now famous teammate is doing fine.
"Nothing to worry. All good," he said.
Thakur, who wanted to be a wicketkeeper at the beginning of his cricket journey, credited his match-winning haul to the backing of Rahul.
"After Mayank left the field, (KL) Rahul bhai only said that 'maybe this is your day, you can win the match for us'.
"He said, 'Don't think much and keep faith in yourself'. He said we'll only focus on the controllable and not waste time on external factors like what has happened to whom," he revealed.
"I don't take the pressure of expectations as a concern. Rather I'm happy when people outside or my team expects me to win games. I enjoy this responsibility of winning games for the team." Thakur said he varied his deliveries, bowling a few slower ones and bouncers to unsettle the batters, which ultimately fetched him success.
"We knew that the wicket was slow, so the plan that we discussed, we stuck to it. Even if we got hit for runs, we would stick to it (the plan). KL told us we would be successful.
"The variations, the slower ones, the bouncers I used, I kept getting success," added Thakur.
GT's Vijay Shankar rues lack of collective effort, Reflecting on the loss, Gujarat Titans all-rounder Vijay Shankar conceded that lack of a collective effort was hurting the Shubman Gill-led side.
Shankar was among the underwhelming performers, managing just 17 in the team's 130-run total while chasing 163.
"Last match we batted well as a team (against Punjab Kings, scoring 199), this match we bowled well (to restrict LSG). Sometimes it is just a collective thing.
"When both together if we can bring it up in one game, that's when we'll start winning it. That is what we missed in the last two games," said Shankar during the post-match press conference.
"We are trying our best. It's not the end of the road for us; it's a very long tournament," he added.
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