IPL 2017: 5 unexpected performers in the first two weeks

#2 Andrew Tye

Tye picked up a hat-trick against Rising Pune Supergiant

At 31, seam bowlers tend to go downhill and more so if one rots and rusts in the shed. Not having got a look in for 34 preceding games in the IPL, Andrew Tye, the Western Australia fast bowler, honed his skills in the nets, pushing the envelope and polishing the latest type of slower one, the knuckleball, and also sharpened his yorkers.

To not bowl two succeeding balls at the same pace, line, length, and revolutions is the modern day mantra of bowlers who are up against the weighty willows, flat death knell pitches, and shorter boundaries to regale the paying public. And it is in these contexts that no praise is too high for Tye, who had a dream IPL debut, with a 5-fer and a hat-trick to boot.

To muster a hat-trick is a fond achievement but to pick two hat-tricks in a season, one each in the Big Bash and in the IPL, calls for a huge ticker and ice in the veins.

Hours of sweat and toil ought to have gone under as hard preparation to get the release of the knuckleball right, let alone the deception part, having the same bowling arm speed to outwit the batsmen.

A late entrant to Australian domestic competition, Tye was part of the Australian squad for the T20 World Cup held in India in 2016.

In this day and age of mushrooming and well oiled T20 leagues, he is bound to be a regular with many sides with his subtle bag of tricks. He looks like he is in a tearing hurry to make up for lost time, festering in the dugout, till he arrived in this season.