Mumbai: The Man of the Match award, which could have been given to Malayalee player Basil Thampi, was ruined when the Mumbai Indians gave up the match they were supposed to win against Delhi Capitals. A crucial catch by Tim David was crucial in Mumbai’s defeat. Tim missed an opportunity to oust Akshar Patel, who was instrumental in Delhi’s victory. Tim David gave up the catch on a long ball by Thampi on the base. At that time, Akshar Patel’s score was 15 runs. Akshar, along with Lalit Yadav, scored 38 off 17 balls to lead Delhi to victory. Maybe Basil would have become the star of the game if he had taken that catch.
The Malayalee batsman, who reached the plate of Mumbai for Rs 30 lakh, had taken three wickets for 35 runs in four overs in the first match itself. With that catch, Basil could have had the best bowling performance of his IPL career. In 2017, he took three wickets for 29 runs.
Basil’s best performance against Delhi came when top players, including Jaspreet Bumra, faded. Delhi’s strong bowlers Shardul Thakur, Prithviraj Shah and Rowman Powell have been dropped from the base.