Lomror makes an instant impression

During the IPL 2023, RCB had availed the ‘Impact Player’ option in 12 matches out of 14, and Anuj Rawat came in twice as the No. 8 finisher, similar to what Lomror did against PBKS at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Bengaluru: Virat Kohli emerged as the Player of the Match with a classic innings while vintage Dinesh Karthik stole the thunder towards the end with a match-winning knock. Sandwiched between the two stalwarts’ brilliance was the ‘impact’ made by Mahipal Lomror.

Joining forces with Karthik when Royal Challengers Bengaluru needed 47 off 22 balls after Kohli (77) and the big-hitting Anuj Rawat had departed in quick succession, all eyes were on Lomror as a determined Punjab Kings hauled themselves back into the contest through the parsimonious Harpreet Brar and Kagiso Rabada.

Used as an Impact Player substitute in place of pacer Yash Dayal, Lomror had no option but to go slam-bang right from the onset. But with the Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch behaving unusually tacky that made teeing off the blocks a hard proposition, the southpaw had his task cut out. And the Rajasthani, who also bowls slow left-arm orthodox, accomplished it in some style.

The very first ball he faced, he creamed Sam Curran for a boundary to restore the decibel levels at the stadium that had gone down after Kohli’s dismissal.

Then in the 18th over, he hammered Arshdeep Singh for a six and four off successive deliveries to bring the equation down to a gettable 24 off 14 balls. Veteran Karthik, playing his last season of IPL, then took over, clobbering 28 off just 10 balls as RCB eventually coasted home with four balls to spare.

While the magic and cool-headedness of Karthik was indeed the difference maker in the end, there’s no denying the ‘impact’ Lomror had in the popular outcome with his 8-ball 17 (2x4, 1x6). His confidence was there to be seen and the rasping shots were the results of the work he’d put behind the scenes after being told pre-season his role would be largely as an ‘Impact Substitute.”

“Yeah, this role is what the team management wants me to prepare for and they have communicated really well about this and they are very clear because we have a really good, strong batting line-up,” said Lomror at the post-match conference.

Lomror said once the message was delivered, he worked on largely hitting boundaries during ‘nets’ sessions. “Preparation-wise, the role I used to do in the last few years gave me more balls to bat. But now as an impact sub or lower down the order, there's not going to be many balls to play.

“So my preparations are such that whenever I'm going into nets or whenever I'm training, I just try and hit. I try and hit boundaries from the very first ball and from the word go. So yeah, I'm trying to prepare like that.”

When asked if he felt extra pressure considering he walked staring at a tough ask, Lomror said being mentally prepared and having Karthik at the other end eased his nerves. “This impact player rule is such that you have to be ready and you can get a call at any time to go in. As the name says you have to show that and you have to make an impact on the game. So mentally I was prepared and yeah that worked.

“I think batting with him (Karthik) makes things really easy for us because he is an experienced guy and he has like 15-17 years of experience in the IPL. He was just telling me to stay calm and just focus on the next ball and focus on the job in hand, not to get over-excited or not to get too aggressive, just focus on the ball and that kind of small talks always help.”

Buoyed by the Punjab outing, Lomror will now be hoping to make many more such ‘impacts.”