The journey of Alzarri Joseph in a glance

It has been a fairytale start for Alzarri Joseph in the IPL playing for the Mumbai Indians as he helped his side defend a paltry 136 runs against an inform Sunrisers Hyderabad side. Called to bat first, Mumbai Indians managed to put 136 runs on the board for the loss of 7 wickets, credits to a gutsy innings by Kieron Pollard.

The score looked to be very easy to chase for Sunrisers Hyderabad due to the presence of the two in-form batsmen Johny Bairstow and David Warner.

Joseph who came in as a replacement for Adam Milne was selected for the match against SRH in place of Lasith Malinga, who went to play against Kandy in the 2019 Super Provincial one-day tournament. Playing the tournament was important to get a chance in the World Cup squad.

Joseph, the West Indies International, dismissed David Warner of the first ball of his IPL career, thus marking the beginning of his magical bowling spell in a remarkable style. Shortly after, he dismissed Vijay Shankar, Deepak Hooda, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Siddharth Kaul in quick succession thus ending with career-best figures of 6-12 in IPL, which is also the best bowling figures in IPL history.

West Indies - Nets Session

Alzarri was also a part of the West Indies U19 squad for the World Cup in 2016. He was their leading fast-bowler and finished as their highest wicket-taker in the tournament. The Antigua-born bowler picked up 13 wickets at an average of 13.76 and at an economy of 3.31.

He picked up 3 wickets in the final against India dismissing Rishabh Pant, Anmolpreet Singh and Ishan Kishan, thus, helping his team to win the Cup.

He made his first-class debut, playing for the Leeward Islands as early as in 2014. However, his side lost the game as Joseph failed to pick up a single wicket. He bowled 16 overs and conceded 83 runs in the match.

The pacer’s List ‘A’ debut was not too great either. A few months after his first-class debut, he made his List 'A' debut and bowled two overs conceding 12 runs.

His international team debut came in 2016 against India in the third test of the series and made his ODI debut against Pakistan in the same year. He returned with figures of 3/69 on his Test debut against India picking up the wickets of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha.

He became the youngest West Indian to take a five-wicket haul in ODIs when he was 20 years and 311 days old, picking up an impressive 5/56 in a losing cause against England.

Joseph has introduced himself in the elite group of West Indians like Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo and many more, who have graced the Indian Premier League through sheer entertainment from batting, bowling and fielding.

If Alzarri continues his blistering form throughout the tournament, he can win the purple cap this season and make a name for himself, eventually propelling Mumbai Indians towards another IPL title.