CHENNAI: The match-up between Punjab Kings' Vijaykumar Vyshak and Chennai Super Kings' Ayush Mhatre at Chepauk on Friday was noteworthy. Vyshak, who is known for his slower balls, now has another ball added to his arsenal — the wide yorkers. As Mhatre, who had already raced to a fifty, was going all-guns blazing against other Punjab bowlers, the onus was on the Karnataka pacer to get his team the breakthrough.
In the 12th over, Vyshak delivered a wide yorker to Mhatre, which was slammed for four through point. Vyshak there, on another day, could have changed his mind and bowled a different delivery. But that was not to be. "It doesn't matter which batter is there, who's batting. I know that as long as I am doing what I'm supposed to do, I'm going to win that challenge,” he recounted in a virtual interaction facilitated by the franchise on Sunday.
“It doesn't matter if it goes for a boundary or a six. If it's a good shot, then obviously you just get back to your run up and then bowl the same delivery again. I am someone who's going to look back and see if I can manage to nail those deliveries that have been asked for. If I do that, then I know that I am in a great space of mind and I know that I can win the game at any moment of the game for my team,” he said.
And he did just that in the very next ball of that over. A similar delivery was bowled and Mhatre jammed it down, which found Yuzvendra Chahal at short third man. That wicket proved to be important one, as Chennai could not rely on another batter sans Sarfaraz Khan to guide them to a competitive total. Later in the match, Punjab went on to chase the target of 210 with eight balls to spare.
He explained how the plan devised by his skipper Shreyas Iyer turned out to be a success. "It was an instant plan from the captain because he was going really well on the leg side. So we thought we'll try and make him hit the off-side. And it did help us.We leaked a couple of boundaries, but we managed to get the run rate a bit down because the way they were batting, it looked like they're going to get 230. So from there, we restricted them to 210," he explained.
Bought for `1.8 crore by the Punjab ahead of the 2025 IPL season, the 29-year-old played as an impact-sub that season, scalping five wickets. He was mostly used as a death bowler. This season, he is given a larger role, to bowl across phases of matches. In just two games this season, Vyshak has amassed a better wicket count (5) than he did last season (4).
He explained how he worked with analysts to get an idea of how he can bring more variations to his bowling arsenal. "I always make sure that whenever I come I have a new delivery for myself. I've been trying to get better and better with more slower ones or maybe a couple of more variations. So hopefully I can, maybe I can get it this season or maybe next year," he said.