But there is even more to Salvi and this IPL. In the midst of all the Glenn McGrath worshippers across the eight teams, Salvi is the original clone. Or at least that’s what Bishen Bedi and Dilip Vengsarkar had said when he had first started out, and he earned an India cap primarily because his action and length resembled McGrath’s. The consistency, however, was missing.

Salvi never made it to the tour of Australia, injured at the last minute, and spent a long time in rehab for two shoulder injuries and a back problem. Ironically, he even remodeled his action, and looking very different from McGrath now, he finds himself in the same squad as his inspiration. McGrath knows that Salvi was his bowling lookalike, and that has only increased his desire to help him mould a career in the IPL.

Salvi smiles at the twists and turns in his story. “It was a perception that I was like McGrath. I never had any such illusions. Just because my old action was similar to his doesn’t mean I was like him. I know that I got a lot of attention because of that. McGrath’s my idol, I watched him on TV when I started playing. At least I finally got to meet him, even though my action no longer looks like his,” he says.

“I had to remodel my action to avoid the stress on my back. I had three surgeries. My case is very similar to L Balaji’s, but my return is less celebrated than his.”

Salvi was playing club cricket when TA Sekar offered him a surprise contract with Delhi. “He might have lost that action but he is nippy off the wicket and can seam the ball from disconcerting length. I think that habit can really help our side in South African conditions. He’s not lost out on pace either,” says Sekar, who worked with several bowlers during his stint at the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai.

“I was very astonished, and very emotional when I got the chance,” says Salvi. “It’s an opportunity to remind people about myself. I want to make the most of it.”

His spell of 2-0-17-1 on Sunday wasn’t a bad effort for a 12-over game. This is another case where the figures don’t tell the full story.