The stakes of specialist T20 cricketers are high in the lucrative tournament. The stakes grow manifolds on their overall performance or a special knock in a season. Every season, franchises empty their purse to buy the services of top players, while some retain their core players who have created a mega impact.
On Monday, one such impactful knock came from the blade of West Indies all-rounder Nicholas Pooran for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Chasing a daunting target of 213 runs, Pooran recorded the fastest half-century in IPL 2023 off 15 deliveries before being dismissed for 62 off 19 deliveries. It was also the joint-second fastest half-century in IPL history.
Incidentally, Pooran fetched INR 16 crore in the IPL 2023 auction, and he justified his pay cheque with the whirlwind knock. His 19-ball knock, with four boundaries and seven sixes, powered LSG to a close one-wicket victory. The West Indies powerhouse fetches INR 1,14,28,571 per match in the lucrative tournament. His seven sixes were worth INR 16,32,653 each.
The power-packed performance also helped Pooran record his best average in an IPL season of 47, surpassing his previous best of 38.25, which came in the last edition. Incidentally, the impact of his innings was such that he recorded the fourth-highest strike rate of 326.23 among IPL players to score 50+ runs and grabbed the Man of the Match award.
Pooran won the Man of the Match award on a day when five players across both teams scored half-centuries. He took RCB bowlers and seasoned campaigners like Karn Sharma, David Willey, Wayne Parnell, and Harshal Patel to the cleaners. Each of these bowlers returned an economy rate of 8 or more.
Earlier, his Australian counterpart Glenn Maxwell played a similar role in helping his side score over 200 runs after fine half-centuries from openers Virat Kohli and captain Faf du Plessis. Maxwell notched up 59 runs off 29 deliveries before falling prey to England fast bowler Mark Wood.
Comparatively, his knock had three boundaries and six sixes. Maxwell has a price tag of INR 14.25 crore in the lucrative tournament. In 2021, he joined RCB, and since then, the franchise has retained the services of the big hitter.
Maxwell is paid INR 1,01,78,571 per match in IPL 2023. His six sixes were worth INR 16,96,429. Pooran makes INR 12,50,000 more than Maxwell per match. Notably, both the big hitters have shown their value for money and will be crucial for their respective squads as the season progresses.
