If making first impression is an art, then Shivam Mavi has to be an artist as he made a perfect international debut on Tuesday against Sri Lanka.
After being around the international circuit for a long while, Mavi finally got his chance. And he took it with both hands by dismantling 4 wickets in his first T20 International match.
The stage was all set for Mavi at the Wankhede Stadium, where India played it’s curtain opener for the year 2023 against Sri Lanka. Having rested players like Arshdeep and Bhuvneshwar, India took the field with 2 debutants.
Shivam Mavi was one of them along with Shubhman Gill.
In the second inning of the game, while defending a total of 162, the Indian skipper Hardik Pandya threw the ball to Mavi in the second over and asked him to have a go.
Shivam Mavi breaths fire in second inning
The 24-year-old didn’t hesitate a bit and despite being smashed for two boundaries came off with the first wicket of the game in the form of Nissanka. He castled the opener with a peach of a delivery to mark his arrival in the shortest format.
This showed the brimming confidence that the bowler had. Hence, he was brought back for another over and once again Mavi did what he was expected to and dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva.
Shivam Mavi went on to take 2 more wickets in the game to ensure that Sri Lanka didn’t run away with the game. As a result, he ended the match with 4 wickets to his name.
“Was waiting for six years after playing U19. Had to work hard in those six years – got injured as well. For a while it looked like my dream will remain a dream. But I kept at it. Having played the IPL, the nervousness is a little less. My idea in the powerplay is to attack and get them out. Favourite dismissal was the first one, getting him bowled,” Shivam Mavi said after the match.
It definitely was a dream debut for the youngster as he became the third Indian bowler to register a 4-fer on T20I debut. The other two players to do so are Barinder Sran and Pragyan Ojha.
It will be interesting to see how he goes about his business in the coming matches. India is set to take on Sri Lanka for two more matches in the series.
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