Hyderabad, Apr 16: Everything is going right for Paul Valthaty, a little known 27-year-old Mumbai cricketer, who is fast emerging as the long-sought solution for the genuine all-rounder's spot in the Indian cricket team.
Though one cannot brand this young cricketer as India's future star based on just the two matches he has played, it may be safely assumed that, given his cricketing skills and body language, he is sure to make it big very soon.
On Saturday April 16, he bowled with a magical arm against Deccan Chargers in the ongoing IPL 4, bagging four valuable wickets.
And then when he came on to bat, the sense of huge expectations from his fans among the crowd was palpable, and he did not disappoint them. Blasting fours and sixes all over the ground, one after the other, he came up with a blistering knock of 75 runs in just 47 balls!
Needless to add, he bagged the man of the match award for a second consecutive time. The fact the two stunning back-to-back performances came against the former and the defending champions of IPL, Deccan Chargers and Chennai Super Kings, makes the feat even more commendable.
Valthaty, who had featured in just 12 Twenty20 matches, came to bowl at a time when the Chargers were looking to accelerate the scoring with Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Kumar Sangakkara going great guns. He got Dhawan to lob one to Sunny Singh and returned to remove Bharat Chipli and a dangerous Daniel Christian.
Amit Mishra became his fourth and final victim when he tried to scoop Valthaty over the wicket keeper only to have his stumps left shattered. The ability to come to the fore when required defined Valthaty as it did against the Chennai Super Kings earlier.
Valthaty had raced to 120 not out in 63 balls against Chennai as the Kings XI Punjab chased down the 189-run target with six wickets and five balls to spare. It was the first hundred of this IPL season and 13th overall.
For those who are not familiar with Valthaty, he had a nondescript career till this knock, since making his way up the levels of age group cricket in Mumbai during the late 1990s.
He made it to India's Under-19 World Cup in 2002 with the likes of Irfan Pathan and Parthiv Patel. But after that an eye injury while playing in New Zealand almost jeopardised Valthaty's career, keeping him out of cricket two-three years before he was picked up by Rajasthan.
Kings XI coach Michael Bevan had heaped praise on the youngster for his sterling display after the match at Mohali.
"He (Valthaty) played a high quality knock, an amazing knock. We really needed such a knock. His placement, power was terrific. He is a talented batsman, who strikes the ball beautifully," Bevan said.
He had added that Valthaty was a quiet character and reserved person, who likes to keep to himself, but was a good human being.