The Indian Premier League serves as the best medium for the Indian domestic players to raise their identity in the eyes of the nation. The Andhra top-order batsman Ricky Bhui finally made his IPL appearance for Sunrisers Hyderabad in their match against Chennai Super Kings yesterday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Although the innings was shortlived, it is a start, nevertheless.
SRH had opened with Shikhar Dhawan so far. The blow to his elbow in the match against Kings XI Punjab rendered him unavailable for the next match of Hyderabad. Despite having the English opener Alex Hales in the ranks, Hyderabad decided to hand a debut to the 21-year old Ricky Bhui. He was out for zero after facing five balls in the first over.
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In the 2018 IPL Auction, Ricky Bhui was the only Andhra Pradesh player to be playing in the IPL. Sunrisers Hyderabad is a team that represents the Andhra region, but the region has failed to produce stupendous T20 cricketers. Even Bhui was picked for only his base price. He has been a part of SRH squad for the last four years but it was yesterday that he received his first chance.
Born in Sept. 1996, The youngster made his first-class debut as a 17-year old. His debut in the limited overs was astonishing. Ricky Bhui scored a match-winning century off just 79 balls with 8 boundaries and 6 sixes against Goa in the Vijay Hazare trophy 2014. His T20 debut innings was 53 runs from 34 balls on a pitch where other batsmen struggled to score run-a-ball.
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After a sterling debut, Ricky Bhui had to face some difficult period as well where runs refused to come out of his bat. He returned in style with two centuries in the 2015 Ranji Trophy season. As of now, Bhui has scored four first-class centuries and averages 43. In 28 T20s that he has played, he has scored five fifties and averages 28 with a strike rate of 119.
The youngster may have to sit out again as Shikhar Dhawan returns to full fitness, hopefully, Ricky Bhui will do justice to his talent in the opportunity he receives.
