Chennai: Chennai Super Kings It’s been a mediocre season, but medium pacer Anshul Kamboj looks to be their breakout star. With 17 scalps in nine matches at an economy rate of 7.54, including 3-32 against Mumbai Indians on Saturday, Kamboj has been the leader of the CSK attack in both powerplay and slog overs. With the wickets of Robin Munns and Hardik Pandya in the 18th and 20th overs in Chepauk on Saturday, Kamboj became the first bowler to take 10 wickets in the death overs this season.The right-arm seamer is treating the death overs like a closing act which he has practiced to perfection. He has been going around the stumps extensively, especially towards right-handed batsmen, varies his length according to the stage of play and regularly lands yorkers.CSK head coach Stephen Fleming doesn’t think Kamboj’s heroics are surprising. “Last year, he was really good. He’s worked hard with Eric Simmons (bowling coach) around the concept of death bowling and he’s worked hard all year to master that,” Fleming said.In the previous IPL season, Kamboj took eight wickets in eight games at an economy of 8.00. Soon after, he stepped onto the biggest stage, making his India Test debut, but his comeback against England was not strong enough to make it a long run.This season, though, he has come back with more bite and moved into a central role in CSK’s pace attack after Khalil Ahmed’s injury.Fleming said Kamboj worked on angles and execution in the preseason. “During the pre-season, he bowled with open wickets and we got an understanding of the angles – what he can and can’t do from certain sides of the wicket and he did a good job,” he added.Post IPL, cricket in India is on the upswing across all formats and Kamboj’s impressive show could soon push him back into the national fast bowling set-up. But for Kamboj, the team performance is more than a personal milestone. Ahead of the clash against MI, he said: “My focus is on how I can contribute to the team’s win.”CSK will go into must-win mode from Tuesday and the team will hope that Kamboj keeps the talk going.
