Five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winners Mumbai Indians (MI) had a torrid season as they finished last on the points table. Towards the end of the season, few debut caps were handed. While few capitalised and grabbed eyeballs with impressive performances, 27-year-old Sanjay Yadav missed out on the opportunity. Few months later, Sanjay delivered a match-winning performance at no.4.
In Nellai Royal Kings' Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) clash against Madurai Panthers, Sanjay scored 70 runs not out from 42 deliveries including four fours and six sixes.
Sanjay walked out to bat in the eighth over of the first innings. He hit four fours and six sixes in his 70-run knock. He shared an unbeaten 100-run stand for the fourth wicket with Baba Indrajith (34). However, in the partnership, Sanjay did the bulk of the scoring. In the first innings, Nellai Royal Kings scored 209/3.
Sanjay negated the Varun Chakaravarthy factor as well. The mystery spinner was the most expensive bowler. Chakaravarthy conceded 50 runs from his quota of four overs.
Sanjay delivered with the ball as well and conceded runs at eight runs per over. He did not get a wicket but did not concede too many boundaries while defending the target of 210.
For Madurai Panthers, opener Arun Karthik kept the run chase alive. With barely enough support from the other end, Karthik scored 106 runs from 57 deliveries including 12 fours and five sixes. In the end, Nellai Royal Kings won the match by 26 runs.
Unimpressive IPL debut
Sanjay made his debut against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He bowled two overs and conceded 23 runs. He batted at no.8 for MI in the run chase. He came in to bat in the penultimate over when nine balls were remaining. He could not finish the game and got out for a two-ball duck to veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. MI ended up losing the match by just three runs.
Sanjay was picked for Rs 50 lakh in IPL 2022 mega auction after a mini tussle with Punjab Kings (PBKS). It will be interesting to see whether he gets retained for the next season. So far, he has scored three half-centuries in ongoing TNPL season with a high score of 87 not out.
