Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Punjab finally registered another win against a strong side in the form victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday. In this win, two players from the Punjab side played a key role. While one was skipper KL Rahul, the other was Harpreet Brar. Brar played his first match of IPL 2021 on April 30 and took three crucial wickets of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers - all in a span of just seven deliveries.
Harpreet Brar was first noticed by a cricket fan on 25th April who wrote to him, "Paaji aap singh is bling ke Akshay Kumar dikhte ho." This roughly translates that Harpreet resembles Akshay Kumar from the movie 'Singh is Bliing'. In the 2015 released movie, Akshay Kumar played the role of a Sikh and could be seen donning a turban to exemplify his role.
However, while reacting to the compliment, the young star from Punjab that he doesn't wear the turban for money. "Paise k liye Turban nhi pehnte hum #isupportfarmers," he responded publicly on Twitter with the screenshot of the statement made by the fan on him over Instagram.
Brar shines with figures of 3/19
Punjab Kings all-rounder Harpreet Brar was the highlight of the match on Friday against Royal Challengers Bangalore when he dismissed the opponent's best batters. Kohli was bowled by him when he stepped out of the crease to take him on. On the very next ball, Maxwell was out on a classic spinning delivery. Even de Villiers could not succeed in attacking the bowler, his shot found the hands of PBKS captain KL Rahul at the short cover. With this, he ended with bowling figures of 3-19 in four overs. Harpreet not only impressed with his bowling, but also played a cameo of 25* in 17 balls by hitting 2 massive sixes, which helped the team reach 179 for 5.
The southpaw eventually went on to win the man of the match award for his outstanding performance with the bat & bowl. In the post-match presentation, he said, "I only tried to bowl the right areas and was not worrying about the runs; if a batsman will step out, then I was ready to bowl short (that's how he scalped Kohli). I was avoiding feeling pressure and did not feel much."
Harpreet Brar was really keen to get the opportunity in the playing XI, and when he got one, he proved himself. Punjab Kings next take on Delhi Capitals in Sunday's double header.