Picking up the wicket of Indian talisman Virat Kohli is a priceless possession for any bowler in the cricketing world, and a young pacer from Punjab Kings (PBKS) also sees a similar dream. In fact, he hopes to fulfil this dream in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The bowler is India’s Under-19 World Cup 2018 team member, Ishan Porel, who hasn’t yet made his IPL debut. However, the youngster is hopeful of playing in the cash-rich league’s upcoming season and aiming to pick Kohli’s wicket.
Prior to the 2020 edition of the lucrative league, Porel was roped in by the Punjab team (then Kings XI Punjab) for a base price of Rs 20 lakh. But the young Bengal pacer did not get a chance to play even a single match despite Punjab’s fast bowling failures.
Ahead of the 2021 edition of IPL, which starts on April 9, Porel talked about his dream wicket while speaking to the Hindustan Times. The 22-year-old explained that Kohli is the best batsman across all formats, and that’s why he would like to take the wicket of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper.
“On a funnier side, I got KL bhai out in a Ranji Trophy match, so I’ve ticked that box. And obviously, Rohit Sharma is great off fast bowling. He can hit those good length balls with ease. Obviously, picking those wickets would be a dream-come-true for me because I’ve seen them win matches for India while growing up. But yes, I would like to take the wicket of Virat Kohli because he is the No. 1 batsman in all three formats,” Porel said.
Porel further interacted concerning his side’s poor bowling show last year in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and hoped that the Mohali-based franchise would perform better in the forthcoming season.
“Any player wishes to contribute 100 per cent to the team in any given situation. Obviously, the execution part comes in the way when a side is under pressure. Hopefully, this year we will do better in that regard,” added Porel.
The right-arm bowler also stated that he is ready to take up the responsibility of bowling and give his 120 per cent to assist his team in the tournament.
“If I am given a chance, I will look to take that responsibility. My goal would be to give my 120 per cent and help the team win the trophy. Irrespective of bowling in death overs or the Powerplay, I just love to bowl. Hopefully, we’ll do well this season,” Porel added further.
