Imagine it is your IPL debut. The nerves. The pressure. The crowds really turning it on. And forget not- the responsibility of having to- but obviously- repay the faith of those in the team that backed you and got you to play in the first place. And that’s not all; imagine you’re actually making your debut in the season opener of the Indian Premier League.
Now, imagine you are none other than Jacob Duffy.
How might that be for someone who prior to the game opening clash on March 28, 2026 had had no taste of the famed Indian Premier League at all?
In reality, neither the pressure nor the big match situation affected Duffy. Not one bit.
Not even the fact that here he was at Bengaluru, in the beating heart of none other than the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the defending champions.
Taking no pressure, none whatsoever, Duffy combined a flair for expression and tight line to affect key dismissals for his Bengaluru side.
And in the very early stages of the maiden contest of this brand new season, Jacob Duffy quite simply dismantled the top order of the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
So much so that even as he didn’t produce brute pace, which he’s anyways not known for, Duffy used skillful bowling of the very highest class to ensure that each of the three wickets of SRH’s famous batting order- big wickets- went his way.
So electric was the atmosphere and the Euphoria surrounding it that you felt part of the game. Absolutely drawn to it. Barring Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klassen it just didn’t seem as though Travis Head, Nitish Kumar Reddy or even Abhishek Sharma could read Jacob Duffy.
On that special, incredible occasion, Jacob Duffy seemed quite simply, invincible- even if his impact lasted for the full quota of 24 deliveries, 13 of which were dots. And the same yielding 3 enormous wickets.
It’s a long tournament that we have on our hands. But Jacob Duffy, safe to say, has gotten going. Best figures in his very first IPL outing.
How incredible is that?
