“Blunder”: Irfan Pathan’s Assessment Of Abhishek Sharma Bowling 16th Over To Marcus Stoinis And Nicholas Pooran

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has failed to come to terms with the reality that Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Aiden Markram (28) made all-rounder Abhishek Sharma (7 & 1/42) bowl the 16th over of the innings in the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2023 Match 58 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Chasing a 183-run target, Lucknow Super Giants needed 69 runs in five overs when they were handed a golden run-scoring opportunity in the form of a Sharma over. Although the 22-year old player had bowled well across three innings this season until the 16th over today, no one expected a non-regular bowler to bowl in the last quarter especially when there was an option of bowling specialist bowlers.

Sharma, who appeared clueless with respect to bowling at the death, ended up conceding as many as 31 runs in a game-changing over. Sixth instance of five sixes being hit in an IPL match, it paved way for a 7-wicket victory for the visitors with four balls remaining in the match.

While LSG all-rounder Marcus Stoinis (40) hit a couple of sixes before getting out on the third ball of the over, batter Nicholas Pooran (44*) hit the remaining three balls over the boundary rope to kick-start his innings in a thumping manner. Taking into consideration how these overseas power-hitters hit over 100-metre long sixes, it wouldn’t be wrong to conclude that the left-arm spinner stood no chance against them at this stage of the contest.

Irfan Pathan’s Assessment Of Abhishek Sharma Bowling 16th Over To Marcus Stoinis And Nicholas Pooran

Pathan took to social media platform Twitter right after the match to term Markram’s decision not just a “mistake” but a “blunder”. With his team needing to register a win in order to keep their chances of qualifying the playoffs in their own hands, SRH’s captain would be ruing his decision.

Bowling a part timer the 16th over was not a mistake. It was a blunder….. #SRHvsLSG

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 13, 2023

Within a couple of minutes, Pathan uploaded another tweet finding faults with Hyderabad’s decision of not playing fast bowler Umran Malik. Been left out on form in the recent matches, the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2* & 0/30), Fazalhaq Farooqi (0/32) and T Naratajan (0/31) were preferred over Malik on Saturday.

League’s fastest bowler sitting out baffles me. Umran Malik wasn’t handled well by his team.

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 13, 2023

Did Abhishek Sharma Bowl The Most Expensive Over in IPL History?

No. Sharma’s 31-run over is not even among the five most expensive overs in IPL history. Joint fourth-most expensive over in the biggest T20 league across the globe, it was the fourth instance (second in the ongoing 16th season after Punjab Kings’ Arshdeep Singh) of a bowler leaking 31 runs in the IPL.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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