"He doesn't drop a player after 1 or 2 bad performances" - Avesh Khan credits coach Rahul Dravid after 4-wicket haul

Young Team India pacer Avesh Khan hailed head coach Rahul Dravid for backing him to play the fourth T20I against South Africa despite his underwhelming performances in the first three matches.

The 25-year-old fast bowler produced figures of 0/35, 0/17 and 0/35 in the first three T20Is of the series. He repaid the management’s faith on Friday (June 17), claiming 4 for 18 in the fourth T20I in Rajkot. Thanks to Avesh’s brilliance with the ball, the hosts bundled out the Proteas for 87 while defending a total of 169. With the win, India also squared the five-match series 2-2.

Speaking at a post-match conference, the right-arm pacer praised Dravid for giving the players in the team a long run. He said:

"The team hasn't changed over four games, so credit to Rahul (Dravid) sir. He gives chances to everybody and intends to give them a long enough run. He doesn't drop a player after one or two bad performances because you cannot judge a player on the basis of one or two games. Everyone is getting enough matches to prove themselves.”

Conceding that he was under pressure having failed to deliver in the first three matches, Avesh added:

"I had zero wickets in three games but Rahul sir and the team management gave me another opportunity today and I ended up picking four wickets.”

Dedicating the performance to his father, the Madhya Pradesh cricketer informed:

“It's also my papa's birthday, so it's a gift for him too.”

The pacer, who has been impressive in the last two IPL seasons for different franchises, has featured in six T20Is so far and has six wickets to his name at an economy rate of 7.39.

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“Spoke to Ishan, he said hard-length balls aren't easy to play” - Avesh Khan

Shedding some light on his impressive bowling effort, Avesh said that he decided to hit the hard lengths while bowling after having a discussion with Indian opener Ishan Kishan. Revealing the details of his conversation, he said:

"Whenever we are batting first, I always end up asking the batters how the wicket played, whether it was two-paced or not. I spoke to Ishan (Kishan) today and he said that hard-length balls aren't easy to play; some are bouncing, some are stopping and the others are keeping low. Then I planned to attack the stumps and bowl the hard lengths consistently. It's in my hands to bowl well, not pick wickets.”

He added about his bowling performance:

"The slower ball wasn't very effective on today's wicket, so I tried to bowl hard lengths with the occasional bouncer to change things up. 170 was a very good total on this wicket and all we wanted to ensure was pick a couple of wickets in the powerplay."

Avesh dismissed Dwaine Pretorius for a duck in his first spell. He returned towards the end to claim three wickets in one over and accelerate South Africa’s downfall in the match.