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All-rounder Madhav Tiwari made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut last year in a must-win clash against Mumbai Indians (MI). The pacer didn’t bowl and was knocked over by Jasprit Bumrah. A year later, he got a do-over in another must-win game. While skipper Axar Patel had given up on playoffs hopes, they are still alive as Tiwari repaid the faith of Delhi Capitals (DC) team management. After taking wickets of Priyansh Arya and Cooper Connolly, he walked out to bat in slog overs of run chase. He delivered with an unbeaten eight-ball 18 cameo, helping DC get over the line, avenge their record-breaking defeat to Punjab Kings (PBKS) at home with a record-breaking run chase in Dharamsala. After the three-wicket win, Tiwari revealed how DC’s batting coach, former England batter Ian Bell motivated him. Bell had instilled belief in Tiwari’s ability but did not want him to try ‘anything fancy’.
"So, the batting coach [Ian Bell] just told me, 'you got the power, you got everything. Just don't try to look to do something fancy. Just hold your shape and react to the ball'," Tiwari said in the post-match presentation.
ALSO READ: Delhi Capitals end losing streak but captain Axar Patel faces BCCI's brunt after Dharamsala win
Tiwari thanks Munaf, Bell
After bagging 'Player of the match', the 22-year-old claimed that he is a "100% bowler and 100% batsman". The youngster thanked DC management, coaches Munaf Patel and Bell for helping him on the sidelines.
"First of all, I would like to thank the management for giving me this opportunity and I'm lucky enough I was able to be on the winning side," Tiwari said.
"So the mindset is always that if things are not in your hand, you just try to be better in each and every practice session. I worked a lot of time with Munaf [Patel, DC bowling coach] sir, I worked on my bowling a lot and I worked on my range-hitting and stuff like that with our batting coach and it was fun and I was happy if I was able to contribute for the team."
Tiwari mixes it up in second chance at Dharamsala
Notably, Tiwari made his IPL debut at HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala, against PBKS but the game was abandoned due to India-Pakistan military conflict. He bowled just one over in that game. This time around, he bowled his full quota of four overs. There was a thought that Axar Patel may bowl if he goes for runs but the young pacer delivered with wickets and DC ended up not bowling spin in the entire innings.
"I think the wicket was helping the length ball. So I was kind of sticking to that early on the phase and I was trying to mix it with wide balls and short balls in between," Tiwari said.
Tiwari is likely to be seen in action next when DC go up against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium on May 17. In their previous clash, DC chased down 226 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.
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