Who is Darshan Nalkande: Uncapped GT Pacer Whose No-ball Gave Life to Ruturaj Gaikwad - WATCH

Gujarat Titans (GT) on Tuesday took the field against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. The defending champions made a surprising call ahead of the must-win game, naming uncapped pacer Darshan Nalkande. The 24-year-old bowler played his first game this season after replacing Yash Dayal in the playing XI.

Who is Darshan Nalkande?

Nalkande is a right-arm fast bowler who represents Maharashtra in domestic cricket. He burst into the scene couple of years back, in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021-22 semi-finals. Bowling against Karnataka, the right-arm quick picked up four wickets in four consecutive deliveries. He thus became only the second India to reach the milestone in T20 cricket after Abhimanyu Mithun, who had achieved the feat for Karnataka.

LIVE: GT vs CSK IPL 2023 Qualifier 1

Nalkande was roped in by Punjab Kings in 2019 but didn’t get a game. Three years later, he was then signed by Gujarat Titans in the mega players’ auction. Nalkande made his IPL debut for the Gujarat Titans last year. Surprisingly, he played his first IPL game against his previous franchise, PBKS, and picked up two wickets of consecutive deliveries – Jitesh Sharma and Odean Smith. However, he returned wicketless in his next game.

He got to play only two games last year but the franchise showed faith in the Maharashtra youngster and retained him for IPL 2023.

Darshan Nalkande in domestic cricket

After making his debut in 2018, Nalkande has represented Maharashtra in 3 First-class games and picked up only one wicket so far. He has also played 21 List A matches and has phenomenal figures; 34 wickets at an average of 27 with best bowling figures of 4 for 25.

Nalkande almost got a wicket

Bowling against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday, Nalkande struck right in his first over, getting Ruturaj Gaikwad caught by Shubman Gill at mid-wicket. The GT pacer bowled an off-cutter which the CSK opener tried to clip slightly away from the body but ended up nudging toward the fielder. But to the disappoint of GT camp, Nalkande had overstepped and the delivery was given a no-ball.