Avesh Khan was waiting in the corridor when his former Lucknow Super Giants coach Andy Flower, now with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, was addressing the media. The moment RCB’s presser was done, Avesh walked into the hall with his bowling spikes still on and greeted his former coach with a lot of humility. Andy congratulated the seamer for his performance and gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving the room.
Not long back, both Avesh and Andy were part of the same dugout but pre-season movements put them in different change rooms. Avesh was with LSG for two years before he was traded to Rajasthan Royals for Devdutt Padikkal. The move didn’t turn out to be a fruitful one for Devdutt but Avesh ended up getting a good deal. The seamer has already doubled the wickets he picked for LSG last season and consistent game time – 15 games this season compared to just 9 in 2023 – has kept him in good rhythm.
Also Read: Glenn Maxwell, A Royal Disappointment
Avesh in 2023 was nowhere close to the Avesh of 2022 (18 wickets in 13 games) and 2021 (24 wickets in 16 games for Delhi Capitals) and he, after a thorough analysis of what went wrong in last season, realised he wasn’t fresh enough to get the best out of his body.
“When I played for LSG last year, I played 10 Ranji Trophy matches before that where I bowled something like 320 overs. So the body was not able to respond so well. I was putting a lot of effort, but it wasn’t happening. One could say that there are four overs to be bowled in IPL and it’s just a 20-over game but it takes a lot of effort. And the body doesn’t respond when you are mentally and physically fatigued.
“I couldn’t understand this last year but when I analysed my IPL, I did a technical change in my action with my coach Anand Rajan and then played Deodhar Trophy, Duleep Trophy and made a comeback to the Indian team. It helped me understand how much effort to put in practice, when to take rest, when to recover the body. I understood my body better,” says Avesh.
The IPL trade happened after that and while it wasn’t in his hands, the youngster is happy to be in the RR dugout and playing in the “bigger ground” in Jaipur.
‘I wake up at 2 on match days’
More than understanding his body and what needs to be done to keep himself one step ahead of the batters, Avesh has cracked the code of keeping it simple. His match-day routine is to wake up by 2 pm and the focus remains on execution, not over thinking or working on his “mental toughness”.
“I wake up at 2 o’clock on the day of the match so I don’t have to think much. Take my example. No matter how much mental toughness you do, you take classes or talk to anyone but until you come to that position, you will face that position again and again until you can come out of it.
“I have also done a lot of things to work on my mental toughness but when you need 10-12 runs in one over, you forget everything. You just focus on execution. So I made my cricket very simple. You have to sleep, eat and keep bowling,” explains Avesh.
Also Read: Sanju Samson’s Recipe for Success
During this deep dive into his mindset, Avesh goes one step further and turns a little philosophical while explaining what made a difference in his cricket.
“Cricket is a circle. The smaller you keep it, the better it is. The bigger you make it, the more gap you will see and the more things you will need. That has also changed my life a little. And that has also made a difference in my cricket,” says Avesh.
Childlike innocence but a lot of maturity
Throughout the nearly 15-minute interaction after the win over RCB, Avesh spoke with childlike innocence but carried maturity beyond his years. He has already seen fair share of ups and downs in his career but has now seemed to have cracked the code. Not looking too far ahead, not thinking too much about the past – even if it is as recent as the last delivery which went for a boundary – has helped him immensely and he wants to keep it that way.
For Avesh, playing cricket was always about enjoyment and he has realised that taking needless tension will only affect his performances.
“I analysed that there is no point in taking so much tension. I played cricket for enjoyment. I never played for money. I consider myself lucky that whatever I wanted to do, it became my profession. There is nothing bigger than that. I always played tennis ball cricket, plastic ball cricket, gully cricket, box cricket, and played with same intensity,” says Avesh.
It was a good outing for the seamer on Wednesday as he returned with figures of 3/44 – his best in the tournament so far – and he couldn’t have timed it better. Against a high-flying RCB unit, Avesh bowled with a lot of heart to pick the wickets of Rajat Patidar, Mahipal Lomror and Dinesh Karthik, and didn’t allow the opposition the late flourish they were looking for.
Avesh’s last two overs went for only 14 and his last over – 19th of the RCB innings – saw him pick two wickets and concede just five runs. It was a clinical performance under pressure and would do his confidence a world of good before heading into another knockout – Qualifier 2 vs SRH in Chennai. Avesh is aware that it is another big game but doesn’t want to complicate his mind with too many thoughts before taking field on May 24.
“If we keep things simple, our mind goes straight or forward. If we keep 5-6 things in mind, then the mind always goes here and there. So we will play the next match with the same intensity and effort,” Avesh signs off.
Stay updated with the latest from IPL 2024 , including updated list of Orange Cap In IPL 2024 and Purple Cap. Explore IPL Match Today . Check IPL 2024 Points Table and players with the Most Sixes , Most Fours ,Most Fifties And Most Hundreds In IPL 2024.
Comments
0 comment