Benched for entire Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), wicketkeeper-batter Luvnith Sisodia is making a statement in the Maharaja Trophy T20 2025. Sisodia smashed first four balls of Gulbarga Mystics' run chase for sixes against Manish Pandey's Mysore Warriors.
The left-handed batter did not just smash a rookie around the park. It was Krishnappa Gowtham who was bowling the first over for Mysore Warriors. The off-spinner was unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction but has previously represented Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). Also, the spin-bowling all-rounder has been a part of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) squads.
The first ball of the innings was hit over long-off for a six. On the second ball, Sisodia swept him over deep square leg for a maximum. Gowtham tried to ball it away from Sisodia's arc but he slog-swept him over deep mid-wicket for third maximum in a row. Then, Pandey had a word with Gowtham. He pitched it short and Sisodia pulled it over deep mid-wicket for another six. No runs were scored of the last two deliveries.
Dubey finishes it in style
In the fourth over, Sisodia hit one more six over deep mid-wicket before losing his wicket to Gautam Mishra. He contributed with a 13-ball 37 cameo in the run chase of 210. After slowing down for a while, Gulbarga Mystics picked up pace. Smaran Ravichandran's 24-ball 38 followed by Krishnamurthy Siddharth's 34-ball 49 and Praveen Dubey's blazing unbeaten 19-ball 53 took Gulbarga Mystics over the line with seven wickets in hand. With three runs needed off the last ball, Dubey hit a six to finish the game in a dramatic fashion.
Earlier M Venkatesh's unbeaten 93 from 53 balls featuring six fours and five sixes, coupled with Yashovardhan Parantap's 24-ball 48 helped Mysore Warriors post 209/5. With their fifth win from seven games, Gulbarga Mystics are at the top of the points table.
Sisodia’s T20 record and current form
Sisodia is yet to make his IPL debut. He was a part of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) squad as well but did not get a chance. So far, the 25-year-old has played 15 T20s and scored 124 runs from nine innings at an average of 13.77 and strike rate of 127.83. These numbers exclude state franchises leagues.
In the ongoing Maharaja Trophy, Sisodia is the seventh-highest run scorer. He has 165 runs from seven innings at an average of 27.50. His strike rate of 201.22 stands out of the lot. No other batter among top 15 run-scorers of the ongoing league have scored at a batter strike rate.
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