Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Director of Cricket Operations Mike Hesson showered praise on debutant Suyash Prabhudessai after the youngster impressed in his maiden match of the IPL against Chennai Super Kings at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai on Tuesday.
Suyash, who plays for Goa in the domestic circuit, showed no signs of nerves while playing his first match. Firstly, the youngster was brilliant in the field to run-out dangerous Moeen Ali. Subsequently, Suyash also took a good running catch but it was to no avail as Mohammed Siraj had overstepped while bowling to Robin Uthappa.
On the other hand, Suyash joined forces with Shahbaz Ahmed when RCB was in a precarious situation at 50-4. The right-hander was able to hit the ground running and scored a fine little cameo of 18-ball 34 before he was dismissed by Maheesh Theekshana. The 24-year old added 60 runs with Ahmed and gave a glimmer of hope to his team in the run-chase.
Hesson revealed Suyash did everything which was asked of him to get his well-deserved opportunity in the final XI.
Hesson said on RCB’s YouTube Channel, “He’s done everything asked of him to this point to get that opportunity. The fact that an opportunity opened up, gave everybody a chance to see what we have been seeing for the last few weeks. Great run out to get rid of a key guy like Moeen Ali. He did other special things on the field and he is a high-quality player.”
“He came in a tough situation and looked like he belonged. That’s what you want to see from these young guys. We’ve had a few of them and we just need to pull it back together. All in all a pretty good fight.”
On the other hand, Suyash revealed that Dinesh Karthik told him to just enjoy the game. He added that all the senior players of the team made him comfortable.
Suyash said, “Those butterflies are always there when you are going on the ground for the first time. It’s a big league. I was talking to all the senior players in the team and they made me feel very comfortable on the ground. It was my debut but it didn’t feel like I was playing for the first time. The crowds were really good and I enjoyed it.”
He added, “When I was going out to bat, I was talking to DK bhai about how I should divide those big scores into small parts. DK bhai just told me to enjoy the game and look for opportunities to score runs. I was just waiting for the loose balls. And when the good balls were bowled, I was trying to convert those singles into twos.”
RCB will next face Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday.
