IPL 2021: Shikhar Dhawan reacts hilariously after Dawid Malan escapes a close LBW appeal

The Delhi Capital’s opening batter Shikhar Dhawan is quite a character when it comes to entertaining the viewers through his celebrations or on-field behavior. While there is nothing that is not eye-catching about his batting, Dhawan’s behavior makes him just as favorite for the masses. Then be it his ever-smiling face, pulling a prank on fellow teammates, or the traditional thigh-five after plucking out a catch.

In one of such jocular moments on the field, Dhawan suffered a heart attack on-filed after Punjab Kings’ middle-order batter Dawid Malan miraculously survived an LBW shout against the Capitals on Sunday (2nd May 2021).

Winning the toss, Capitals’ skipper opted to field. While the bowlers managed to keep a lid on the scoring rate initially and Kagiso Rabada even claimed a wicket in his opening over, getting Prabhsimran Singh, the Kings’ opener out cheaply, Punjab Kings eyed to make a shift with crucial powerplay overs passing on.

While Mayank Agarwal accelerated, Kings soon lost Chris Gayle to be dented further. The team had included Dawid Malan for a suffering Nicholas Pooran, who has recorded four ducks in the season already. However, his replacement did not have a fruitful first outing either, scoring a run-a-ball 26 before Axar Patel cleaned him up as he missed to make a connection while slogging the spinner.

Malan survives a close call

Patel could have had his man much earlier, although luck favored Malan heavily as he escaped what looked an extremely close call. The incident occurred on the first ball of the 10th over, bowled by Axar Patel when Malan was struck right in front as he missed hitting the ball while trying to work it on the leg side.

A huge shout in tandem followed from all the Capitals team members but the umpire was not impressed. Skipper Rishabh Pant opted to review the decision, where UltraEdge revealed no involvement of the bat. Things became rather surprising when the ball-tracker showed a considerable part of the ball hitting the leg-stump, which was even visible as Malan played and missed his stroke. Although, all of this for the DRS to turn umpire’s call.

Dissatisfied and surprised by the result, Shikhar Dhawan enacted suffering a heart attack as Malan escaped the dismissal. Meanwhile, the Capitals went on chase the 166-run target successfully to climb to the top of the table. Mayank Agarwal’s unbeaten 99 off 58 went in vain as the Capitals got off to flying start and handy contributions from the middle-order around half-centurion Dhawan (69* off 47) sealed the game with 7 wickets intact.

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— Cricket Unlimi (@CricketUnlimi) May 2, 2021