Lamichhane and Ngidi – young bowlers hit the right lines

It was the last day of the league phase of the Indian Premier League 2018, with a lot at stake for two of the four teams in action.

First, it was Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians, and after that Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab. Delhi were already out and Chennai through to the play-offs, leaving the other two teams to try and win and stay in the hunt for a place in the last four. Neither made it after losing their games, and playing key roles in the way things panned out were two of the most exciting young bowlers in world cricket: Sandeep Lamichhane and Lungi Ngidi.

At Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla in the afternoon, Lamichhane was playing just his third game of the season, and struck early to send back Suryakumar Yadav, then had Kieron Pollard’s number, and finally saw the back of Krunal Pandya on his way to returns of 3/36. That helped stop Mumbai on 163 in reply to Delhi’s 174/4.

Slightly later in the day, it was Ngidi’s turn. It took only two balls to get Chris Gayle to nudge one to Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps, then he hit KL Rahul’s stumps, and Ngidi later came back to roll over Ravichandran Ashwin and Andrew Tye to return magical figures of 4/10.

Lamichhane is still only 17, from Nepal, and made history by becoming the first player from his part of the world to play in the IPL. His stocks had been on the rise for a while, and 13 wickets in six games at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 only gave him more prominence.

At Delhi, though, Lamichhane didn’t get into the XI till the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore on 12 May, when the team’s hopes of qualification had already vanished.

“He’s bowled really well in the last three games. If you look back to the start of the tournament, and what our starting XI might have looked like – if you put a (Kagiso) Rabada and a Chris Morris into the side with a (Glenn) Maxwell, it’s pretty hard to fit Sandeep into the starting XI,” argued Ricky Ponting, the Delhi coach.

“Obviously Morris played the first four or five games before going home. We mixed and matched with (Liam) Plunkett, (Trent) Boult, (Dan) Christian trying to find the right combination that would suit different conditions around the country, but we always knew Sandeep had the skills.”

Despite the skills, and the numbers behind him, Lamichhane, who recently replaced Shakib Al Hasan in the ICC World XI side for the 31 May Twenty20 International against the Windies at Lord’s, didn’t get a game till late in the script.

“We’ve all seen him for the last eight or nine weeks bowling day in and day out. He bowls all day every day with a smile on his face and just absolutely loves it. It’s great to see guys like him. We’ve got some really talented youngsters and Sandeep is one of them. We’re looking forward to him having a really long, successful IPL career.”

As for the young man, it was still an experience worth having. “It was a great lesson for me. You have to be very humble and you have to be very kind to everyone. There are lots of things I can’t describe I have learnt,” he said. “Personally, I’d like to say a big thanks to everyone. I think this experience I will apply in Nepal cricket to take Nepal cricket high.”

Unlike Lamichhane, Ngidi still has time in the tournament, and can add to the nine wickets he has picked up in five games.

“Very happy with the way I performed today,” said Ngidi, the Player of the Match. “There was a bit of bounce and pace on the wicket and running in, delivering a few at the batsmen, tried to put them under as much pressure as possible, and it seemed to work out pretty well for me.”

Ngidi, who said after the Punjab game that he was hoping to ‘keep the good form going’ in the play-offs, has been a revelation. Still only 22, Ngidi lost his father soon after the start of the IPL and flew back home before returning to action. “Originally getting here … I was down with myself, went through a bit of trouble with my family, but the environment here has really uplifted me,” said Ngidi, whose Test career also got off to a great start against India earlier this year.

Two young men with potentially outstanding international careers ahead of them, and they are making the most of the opportunities they are getting, ones they have certainly earned. And that’s wonderful to see.