1st Irish player Little to play in IPL, recalls 1st memory of League

AHMEDABAD: Ireland cricketer Joshua Little, who made history on Friday by becoming the first Irish player to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has said that watching legendary South African batter AB de Villiers on TV is his "first memory" of the popular league.

GT's official Twitter handle held a fun 'Q/A session' with the 23-year-old Irish pacer.

"AB de Villiers, on TV," Little said in a video posted by GT.

The pacer was asked about his first memory of IPL. Asked about his first impression of skipper Hardik Pandya, Little described him as "good leader, strong character and amazing cricketer".

On his first impression of GT coach Ashish Nehra, Little said he is "very welcoming, easy to talk to, funny and nice guy".

Little took a wicket in the opening match of IPL 2023 and bowled out Chennai Super King's Ambati Rayudu in the 12th over.

However, he proved expensive, giving away 41 runs in four overs.

GT procured the left-arm fast bowler in the mini IPL auction 2023 for Rs 4.40 crore.

Little made his T20I debut for the Irish cricket team against Hong Kong on September 5, 2016 at the age of 16.

He came to the limelight in last year's T20 World Cup in Australia and took a hat-trick for Ireland against New Zealand.

He grabbed wickets of Kane Williamson, Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner, giving Ireland its second hat-trick of the tournament.

He scalped 11 wickets in the tournament and was among the top 10 bowlers in the bowling charts.