New Delhi [India], May 21 : Former India tearaway Varun Aaron was "surprised" by Rajasthan Royals' decision not to begin with right-arm seamer Akash Madhwal, who fired off a Player of the Match performance with his scorching spell against Chennai Super Kings at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the 18th season of the Indian Premier League.
Uttarakhand's Madhwal was thrown into the mix for Rajasthan's last four fixtures after losing its mainstay Sandeep Sharma to injury. He returned with a scalp in his first three matches but shone in the Royals' last game of their shambolic campaign.
He broke the backbone of Chennai's middle-order and cleaned up Dewald Brevis with a touch of late swing. In the final over of the first innings, Madhwal kept a check on the scoring rate and punched a return ticket of Chennai's power-hitters Shivam Dube and skipper MS Dhoni. With a stellar outing, the 31-year-old returned with figures of 3/29 after bowling a full quota of four overs, setting the stage for Rajasthan to gun down the 188-run target and trounce the five-time champions.
"I thought he really used the conditions well, pulled some good yorkers with that round-arm action of his. He gets a little tail, just slightly tails in towards the end. Brevis missed it and got the inside edge. He had no hesitation, stuck to his plans, executed really well--and that's how you do well in the IPL," Aaron said on JioHotstar.
Aaron felt that if Madhwal, who possesses "good" death bowling skills, could have sorted out Rajasthan's woes at the end and formed a "good" pair with Sandeep Sharma.
"I'm just surprised they didn't start with Akash Madhwal this season. He had a very decent season last year. He's got very good death bowling skills. The biggest concern was their death bowling. Alongside Sandeep Sharma, he would've made a really good pairing. I don't know why they used him only after the 7th or 8th game--but he's delivering results now," he added.
After trouncing Chennai with a six-wicket triumph, Rajasthan finished their campaign in the ninth spot with eight points, and they are likely to hold onto that position considering their superior net run rate to the Super Kings.