Which current Royal Challengers Bengaluru player was the first to take two consecutive 5-wicket hauls in T20s? Ahead of their first home match of the IPL season, this intriguing question on RCB Bold Diaries left the entire squad stunned, except the man who did it. When asked this question, Virat Kohli said, “Was it Lockie?” while Lockie Ferguson and Glenn Maxwell both went for Karn Sharma’s name. Mohammed Siraj wondered if it was Wanindu Hasaranga, while Akash Deep thought it could be Harshal Patel. Mahipal Lomror settled for Siraj as his gamble, and Rajat Patidar offered Adam Zampa as his answer. Some others opted for Anil Kumble and Yuzvendra Chahal, while Dinesh Karthik pondered on Himanshu Sharma’s name.
The question was also asked to Captain Faf du Plessis, who first asked: “Domestic or international?”, before thinking about the correct answer. “I wanted to say Faf du Plessis,” du Plessis said. “Is that correct?”
It was indeed the correct answer as du Plessis had already achieved this feat in the years 2011 and 2012 when he claimed 5/19 and 5/28 on the South African domestic circuit with his leg-spin skills.
In fact, du Plessis’ second five-wicket haul featured players all representing South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Neil McKenzie, Dwaine Pretorius, Chris Morris and Thami Tsolekile. And apart from De Kock, who was caught, everyone else was bowled by du Plessis.
When told that it was the skipper who had achieved the feat, Kohli exclaimed, ‘Who bowls leg spin? Faf? What!’ Karthik was also surprised. “Faf, I never expected you to do that!” Karthik said.
The RCB captain has even picked up 2 ODI wickets and has a pretty handy bowling record in first-class, List A and T20 cricket. He has claimed 50 wickets in T20s at a healthy average of 18.34 and a solid economy rate of 6.96.
“I can’t believe he’s not bowling right now, leaving the rest of us trying to bowl,” Maxwell noted.
It is now up to the skipper to decide as RCB prepare to take on Punjab in their first home match of the season at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.
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