IPL 2022: Ricky Ponting always encouraged me – Avesh Khan

Fast bowler Avesh Khan has heaped praise on Ricky Ponting for always backing when he played for Delhi Capitals in the previous season of the IPL.

Ponting told the young fast bowler that he will soon play for the national team, which really motivated him to do well.

Khan had a stellar previous season for Delhi Capitals as he finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. The right-arm fast bowler from Madhya Pradesh scalped 24 wickets in 16 matches in IPL 2021 and played a key role in taking the franchise to the playoff stages.

Khan impressed with his accurate yorkers and slower balls and grew in stature in the previous season. As a result, Khan earned his maiden call-up to the national team and made his debut against West Indies. The 25-year old didn’t have the best of the debuts as he was expensive in his spell but he made a solid comeback in the second game as he scalped two wickets.

Avesh Khan will now play for Lucknow Super Giants as he was roped in for a whopping amount of INR 10 crores in the IPL 2022 mega auction and thus he had become the most expensive uncapped player.

“Ahead of my first match for Delhi Capitals, Ricky Ponting put his arms around my shoulders and said, ‘One day you will play for India. This is your time. Now you have to prove yourself because you have been with Delhi for the last four years.’ He has always backed me. It’s not like because I did not play, I would only bowl in the nets. He would always encourage me. He would ask me to be ready for my chance because I always belonged in that group of 12-13 players who would get selected. Somehow, I could never make it in the Playing XI but last year, from the first match itself, I was in the XI and I was able to prove them right,” Avesh told Boria Majumdar on the show ‘Backstage with Boria’.

Khan added he has always looked to work hard and help his team win. The 25-year-old will look to give his best for Lucknow Super Giants in the upcoming season.

“I always believed in the hard work which I had put in. My aim was to cement my place in the XI, play all matches and help the team win matches. All I needed was an opportunity to prove myself because as a player, if you play in the team from the first match itself, you become its main player. In a tournament like IPL, I got to play from the first match itself so I had a great chance to show what I was capable of. In the first match itself, I dismissed Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) and Faf du Plessis and that went a long way in boosting my confidence,” added Avesh.

The Super Giants will begin their campaign against Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 28th March.