IPL 2022 | Ian Bishop narrates Powell's struggle story

Former West Indies fast bowler and legend Ian Bishop has narrated a heart-warming story about the West Indies and Delhi Capitals all-rounder Rovman Powell. Bishop recalled how Powell had promised his mother to take them out of poverty when he was in secondary school.


The hard-hitting batter played a quick knock of unbeaten 33 off 16 balls on Thursday (April 28) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to help DC chase down the target of 147 against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).


Lauding the 28-year old, Bishop urged the cricket fans to dig into Powell's struggle story to understand the difficulties he faced to reach where he is today. The former pacer also revealed how many people are rooting for him because they are aware of the hardships he has gone through.  


"If anyone has the opportunity of 10 minutes to spare, go and look at Rovman Powell's life story – a video on YouTube. You will see why so many people, including me, are happy that this guy has gotten a taste of the IPL. He has come from humble beginnings. He promised his mom that he would take them out of poverty when he was still in secondary school. He is living that dream to do that. Great story," Ian Bishop said while speaking on ESPNcricinfo. 


The former West Indies pacer further pointed out the improvements that Powell made in the last few years, which are being reflected in his game now. 


"He averaged 47.5 against India with these same spinners in India last February. He has improved a lot, is very good against the seam, and shows a great temperament," Bishop added.


Powell, along with his single mother and younger sister, grew up in the Bannister District of Old Harbor, Jamaica, and faced many challenges and hardships before he earned his national call-up on the back of his all-around brilliance in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).


Talking about Powell's journey so far in the IPL, he had a poor start to his IPL 2022 campaign, with the highest score of 20 during his first five games for DC, and that included two ducks. However, he found some rhythm in the game against Rajasthan Royals, where he hammered 15-ball 36 but couldn't help DC cross the finish line. 


Delhi Capitals have played 8 matches so far in the ongoing edition of the IPL, where they have won 4 games while losing as many. They are currently placed at the sixth spot on the points table with 8 points to their credit. However, with the IPL playoffs approaching fast, they need to win at least 4 more matches to qualify for the playoffs. 

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IPL 2022 | 'Chopping and changing isn’t ideal' - Tim Southee on KKR’s form

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) started on a fine note with three wins in five league matches. But since then have sustained four consecutive losses, which has certainly impacted the confidence of the whole squad. Currently, they are at the eighth position in the points table with only three wins in nine games. In their recent fixture against the Delhi Capitals (DC) at Wankhede Stadium, the team was stuttering at one point, with the scoreboard reading 35/4 until the 8th over. The partnership of Shreyas Iyer (42) and Nitish Rana (57) helped them gain momentum before the former was caught behind in the 14th over. A late push from Rinku Singh (23* off 16) steered the team to a score of 146, which looked like a respectable total on the board. DC struggled but chased down the score in response, with David Warner and Rovman Powell as the key contributors. For KKR, Umesh Yadav was phenomenal with 3/25 off four overs. KKR seamer Tim Southee answered a few questions in the post-match conference. He opined on the bad form of the openers and said they had tried different combinations but failed to get a good start. He further added that few of their players need to find back their form. “We’ve tried a few opening combinations, and there are no bad players in the IPL; they’re all class acts. The guys who’ve opened have pure class as well. So, it’s just about guys finding form and running with guys who’ve found form,” Southee said. Then, the Kiwi ace reckoned that chopping down and changing in team's playing XI isn’t ideal but accepts this is done due to the team’s consecutive losses. “The chopping and changing nature isn’t ideal, but that happens when you aren’t winning a lot of games,” the pacer added. In the first five games, Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer opened the innings for KKR. Then three different combinations were used with the likes of Sunil Narine, Aaron Finch, and Sam Billings also invited to open the team. In their next league match, the Knight Riders will be up against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on May 2 at Wankhede Stadium. If the team has to secure the playoffs spot, they need to win a minimum of four out of their next five league matches.