Andrew Tye

Andrew Tye (born 12 December 1986) is a modern day, limited overs specialist right-handed quick bowler. With an ability to bowl yorkers at will and enough variations to keep the batsmen on their toes, it is no surprise that he was one of the most sought after players in the T20 leagues around the world. A late bloomer of sorts, he made his List A debut for Western Australia in the 2013-14 aged 26 but made everyone sit up and take notice with his performances, finishing with the second highest number of wickets including a five-wicket haul against Tasmania.

Tye was immediately signed up to play for the Sydney Thunder franchise in the 2013-14 season, before switching to the Perth Scorchers in the 2014-15 season of the BBL, playing a key role in their title clinching campaign. His performances caught the selectors’ radar and he made his T20 international debut against India at Melbourne in 2016. An ODI debut would have to wait a couple more years till 2018. However, he failed to establish himself as a regular in Australia's limited-overs setup.

Like his numbers show, Tye is predominantly a limited-overs bowler who thrives on choking the batsmen with pressure, caused either by his accuracy, the scoreboard or at times, both. He doesn't clock a high speed but is still moderately quick and what enables Tye to succeed is his clever pace variations which can baffle the batsmen especially when they are trying to up the ante. All this has enabled Tye to build a reputation as an extremely reliable slog-overs bowler in the domestic circuit of Australia. He has shown it often during the BBL as well where he has managed to stifle the batsmen with his craft. Apart from his bowling, Tye is also a more than handy hitter down the order with the penchant to hit really big sixes. All this makes him a very useful package in the shorter formats, particularly in T20s.

IPL - Through the years

Although a part of CSK's squad in 2015, he had to wait until 2017 and a new franchise in Gujarat Lions to get a game. Brought in to arrest a dwindling campaign, Tye struck gold in his very first match, picking up a hat-trick en route his fifer to finish with the best figures by a debutant in the IPL - 5/17. His 'knuckle ball' - too good for most big names - became the talking point through the season. He triggered a bidding war between CSK, RR and KXIP in 2018 major auction, finding a new home in Punjab for 7.2 crores INR, and he impressed immediately with 24 wickets and the Purple cap under his belt. He was signed by the Rajasthan Royals in 2020 but failed to get a long run there and for the Lucknow Super Giants as well in the subsequent season.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan