IPL 2018: Ankit Rajpoot slammed for Shikhar Dhawan sendoff

The IPL is nearing the halfway mark and the race to playoffs is becoming clearer day by day. Fans have already witnessed a fair share of close encounters. Be it a low scoring thriller or a high scoring one, IPL has shown it all. While the Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad have got going, the likes of Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils are reeling at the bottom of the table.

Excellent spell

In the first game between KXIP and SRH, Chris Gayle was the star of the show as he hammered the bowlers to all parts of the ground and ensured a KXIP victory. The reverse fixture was a bowling dominated one as KXIP restricted SRH to 132 but still lost the game by 13 runs. Ankit Rajpoot took five wickets for KXIP and became the first uncapped bowler to take a five-wicket haul in the history of the IPL. However, his effort was overshadowed by the kind of send-off he gave to opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan.

Rajpoot was constantly troubling the SRH batsmen who had very few answers against him. His dismissed Williamson, Dhawan and Saha in his first three overs to put KXIP in the driver’s seat.

However, one moment of madness completely overshadowed his bowling performance. Rajpoot was clearly seen using abusive language after taking Dhawan’s wicket in the powerplay overs.

After SRH’s victory, they are on a level with CSK and KXIP. However, CSK has one game in hand and a better NRR than the other two teams. SRH face the Rajasthan Royals in their next encounter on April 29 and needShikharn Dhawan to fire at the top as they cannot rely on their bowlers for all the matches. Kane Williamson has led his side in great fashion but needs to score runs too to put his side into great positions.

Stay updated on ‘today’s cricket news‘ with CricTracker.com