Ahmedabad: After his batting heroics against Gujarat Titans in an IPL 2023, Delhi Capitals (DC) all-rounder Aman Hakim Khan has revealed that he had a strong desire to utilise the opportunity that came his way when his team-mate Mitchell Marsh fell sick before the game.
Walking into bat at 23/5, Khan scored 51 runs off 44 balls and led the recovery of his side from a precarious situation as DC went on to post a total of 130/8 in their 20 overs against Titans on Tuesday night.
The 26-year-old got a place in the playing eleven, just a few hours before the game and capitalised well on the opportunity as he made an impact with his performance.
“(In earlier matches) I was going to bat at 30 balls 100 required and all of that. I wasn’t thinking much and I wasn’t low on confidence. But in the previous game that I played in Hyderabad, I went in a similar situation and I threw my wicket away. So, I was really disappointed with myself and I was just thinking that if I get another opportunity like that,” Khan said in the post-match presentation.
“In fact today, I wasn’t going to play. Mitchell Marsh got sick, so I came into the side and I just thought of the opportunity that I wanted to grab my opportunity at any cost,” he added.
Speaking about his innings, Khan said that he batted normally as the team has already lost a lot of wickets.
“The wicket was a little sticky. Their spinners have bowled really well. It was easier for me to bat on because we had already lost a lot of wickets, so I was just looking to bat normally. Hitting big shots was really difficult on that wicket and with that bowling attack,” he said.
Despite a low total, a fantastic collective bowling performance from the DC bowlers, led by Ishant Sharma (2/23), saw the away team defend 130 as Ishant held his nerve to defend 12 off the last over in yet another thriller.
Ishant gave away only six runs and also picked up the wicket of Rahul Tewatia in the last over.
Praising Ishant for his impressive bowling effort, Khan said: “It’s a collective effort, but the last over that Ishant Sharma bowled, he looked very confident. A lot of credit goes to him for winning this match because the way Rahul Tewatia was batting and the way Hardik Pandya was batting… And you know what Rashid Khan can do.”
(IANS)
