IPL has always played host to a string of amazing talents, some of whom have gone on to bag the limelight while for others, it has been crucial cameos from the behind, pulling the strings of destruction from behind.
Lockie Ferguson belongs to the latter category, where he prefers taking the backseat and propels his team to the fore with a commanding display of pace.
However, when you talk about stalwarts of the sport, Lockie Ferguson is not named in the same league. You will hear a lot about Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar when it comes to the Indian monikers while Pat Cummins, Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada will be the big ones being talked about vociferously when the discussion shifts to the overseas players.
You won’t hear much about Lockie Ferguson, an exceptionally underrated T20 bowler who has been delivering day in and day out with his clinical distinction for the Gujarat Titans. In fact, in the midst of a star-studded sky, Ferguson has hammered the fastest deliveries for the Titans so far and has left the batters flabbergasted at the sheer terror of his pace and menace.
Lockie Ferguson also brags about an incisive line and length that isn’t kind to the batters. It is deadly and would move either way of the stumps to keep the batters guessing till the dying extent. That is how special he has always been.
More importantly, he has this hardline consistency where he can continuously kiss the deck at 145 plus clicks and keeps the line absolutely intact. A slight variation also stays on the cards that make him even more menacing.
The surfaces in IPL 2022 have so far been pretty conducive to the batters and the slightest variation can be punished with extreme prejudice. This is why it is important for a bowler to maintain his line and length.
Now usually, bowlers who get wickets deserve all the praise for sure, but somehow in the midst of strident numbers, one has forgotten how crucial economical bowling is especially in the treacherous format of T20.
Every single dot is like a reward in the form where the bowlers are always on the back-foot as the batters are brimming with blood on their minds.
This is exactly where Lockie’s stringent spells come in. It doesn’t get you the wickets but it gets you the trap for the other bowlers to capitalize. It gets you the pressure that is a dire need to strangulate the run flow forcing the batters to make that mistake.
With all said and done, he is also an exceptional bowler in the death overs and at times chips in with crucial wickets too and whenever he claims wickets it doesn’t come in isolation at all. He is claiming a flurry of them and that is what makes him an absolute asset to any franchise and definitely to the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022.
