Why was Mumbai Indians youngster Nehal Wadhera spotted in pads at the airport?
Of all the uncapped Indian youngsters to have grabbed the limelight with the sheer quality of their performances in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the rise of Nahel Wadhera has been influential to the fortunes of five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI).
The in-transition side has seen Wadhera bolster their arsenal with his presence by coming out and blasting opposition attacks in the lower middle order. The 22-year-old has been playing a valiant and impactful aggressor for the MI franchise, providing adequate support to a star-studded line-up around him.
The Punjab cricketer has smashed 198 runs in his seven innings at a notable strike-rate of 151.15, including two impressive half-centuries and 18 fours and 10 sixes in the middle for his side.
Nehal Wadhera's stand-out knock came in the game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), where he reinforced his prowess by belting away a terrific half-century.
MI pull the screws on late-comer Wadhera with funny punishment
The youngster missed out in the win over defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) and will be hoping to make amends with a substantial effort in the next league stage encounter versus the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Tuesday (May 16).
Before he turns up against the Lucknow franchise, however, Nehal Wadhera was involved in a funny incident, wherein the cricketer had MI pulling the screws on him for coming late in a batters' meeting. The punishment given to the cricketer led to hilarious scenes as he was asked to wear his batting pads to the airport travelling to play the next IPL 2023 game.
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The incident came to light via an Instagram reel posted by the MI franchise through their official handle. Initially, it wasn't known why Wadhera is strangely wearing his batting pads to the airport with everyone watching.
But deep into the caption, MI confirmed it was due his notoriously late arrival for the batters' meeting for planning and preparation to take down the in-form Super Giants side.
The cricketer can be seen feeling really shy about it, offering a wry smile on his face while the rest of the MI players make fun of him.