Who is Kuldeep Sen? Rajasthan pacer who defended 15 runs against Lucknow's Marcus Stoinis

Kuldeep Sen became the talk of the town after impressive bowling against Lucknow in the 20th match of the Indian T20 League. Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson trusted the debutant for the final over of the game, when Lucknow needed just 15 runs.

The well-set Marcus Stoinis was at the crease and he looked all set to take the game away after scoring 19 off the penultimate over. Sen mixed up his full-length deliveries and short-balls to perfection. He conceded 11 runs in the last over as Rajasthan won the match by three runs. Earlier in the match, he also got rid of Deepak Hooda for 25 runs in his second over. Sen ended with the figures of 35 for one in his four overs.

Hailing from Rewa, a city in Madhya Pradesh, Sen was picked by the Rajasthan team for 20 lakhs in the mega auction. As reported by News 18, the 25-year old's father, Rampal Sen, runs a small salon in Rewa.

The team management eyed him in the auction based on his performance in the domestic circuit. In the 16 first-class games that he has played for Madhya Pradesh, Sen has 44 wickets to his name. He also has scalped four wickets in List A cricket. He made his T20 debut against Mumbai in 2019 and has picked up 13 wickets in the 19 games that he has played so far.

Explaining his decision to use Sen in the last over, Sanju Samson said that he was confident about Sen's skill.

"Got the feeling that he has done well and he is confident (talking about Kuldeep Sen) to go and execute his wide yorker which he has been working in the off season. Saw him in Syed Mushtaq and he was nailing his wide yorkers," he said in the post-match presentation.