Avesh Khan Terminates Comparison With Mitchell Starc

Avesh Khan was at the center of all attention during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash between the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

He got the stiff task of defending nine runs in the last six balls of the second innings. The Royals were coming off the same situation in the previous encounter, where Mitchell Starc grabbed the victory from their jaws. Avesh Khan repeated the same heroics with consecutive yorkers to compare with the Australian pacer.

“I don’t want to be Mitchell Starc”- Avesh Khan drops bombshell

In his first two overs of the innings, Rajasthan belted the Madhya Pradesh bowler for 26 runs. But on his first ball of the 18th over, he sent back the set-opening batter, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made room and exposed his stumps, looking to nail the ball through the off-side.

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But the right-arm pacer didn’t make any contact as the ball uprooted the middle stump to break a vital 62-run stand. Avesh Khan ended the over with the wicket of the RR captain, Riyan Parag, for 39 runs in 26 balls.

Parag walked across the stumps and got low to play the paddle scoop against an angling-in yorker. The umpire had no hesitation in raising his finger as he saw the ball hit him before the stumps.

Getting the job of the last over, the Indore-born gave away just three runs in the first two balls. On the third delivery, Shimron Hetmyer shuffled to flick the overpitched delivery into the hands of the backward square leg, who didn’t need to move at all from his position.

Three successive yorkers didn’t give any chance to the Rajasthan side, as they fell short of the target by just two runs. Avesh Khan, who finished with 3/37 in four overs, revealed that he would not want to imitate Starc but create his legacy in the future.

“I don't want to become Mitchell Starc; I want to become a good Avesh Khan. I always try to back every single delivery I bowl and execute yorkers, which are my strengths. I always think it's better to take 10 extra seconds to bowl; it will help me execute better.” The 28-year-old, Avesh Khan, expressed during the presentation ceremony.

Abdul Samd’s 10-ball 30* carried LSG to 180/5

Lucknow didn’t make a good start after deciding to bat first on a slow surface. They lost three crucial wickets inside the first eight overs for just around 50 runs on the board.

Aiden Markram and Ayush Badoni put up a vital 76-run stand to celebrate their respective half-centuries to stabilize the ship.

However, it was Abdul Samad’s knock of unbeaten 30 runs in 10 balls, including four sixes in the last over of the innings against Sandeep Sharma, that carried them to the 180-run mark in 20 overs.

Rajasthan panicked from a comfortable position

The inaugural champions got off to a fine start with the 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi drilling 34 runs in 20 balls. Yashasvi celebrated his third successive fifty of the season, but he couldn’t finish the game.

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For the second successive game, both Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer were on the firing line to fail in the chase from a comfortable position. Even their captain could have stayed till the end.

But with two back-to-back narrow defeats, it would be incredibly hard for the side to turn back from their current eighth position in the points table with two wins in eight games.