25-year-old Ashutosh Sharma is living his dream in IPL 2024. "He is the best product to have come out of Railways after the Vande Bharat Express," exclaimed a fan after his sensational big-hitting show for Punjab against 5-time champions Mumbai in their last-over thriller on Thursday, April 18. Ashutosh has had a tough journey to the top, but the young batter oozes confidence when he is in the middle. Having scored 156 runs from just 4 matches at a staggering strike rate of 205, the Madhya Pradesh batter has made heads turn.
His heroic 28-ball 61 helped PBKS recover from 14 for 4 and nearly chase down 193 against a Jasprit Bumrah-led MI bowling attack in Mullanpur on Thursday. It went in vain, but Ashutosh once again established that he is a young talent to watch out for in the coming days.
Speaking after his sensational knock, a maiden fifty in the IPL, Ashutosh Sharma said he doesn't want to be tagged as only a 'big-hitter', revealing a game-changing chat with Sanjay Bangar, Director of Cricket of the PBKS. He was asked to walk in at No. 8 and the young man gave MI a huge scare, hitting 7 sixes and 2 boundaries as he had Hardik Pandya and his men a few nervy moments.
"Sanjay sir told me 'you are not a slogger, you can play proper cricketing shots and focus on it'. That small statement has made a huge impact. I have been following that only. I am not a hard-hitter. I play proper cricketing shots. That has changed my game. Back home, I was working with my coach Amit Khurasia. He also told me that the longer I stay in the middle, the more the chances of my team winning. Yes, I have missed getting the job done in 2 games. But, this is cricket. You have to keep working on your game," Ashutosh Sharma told the press after PBKS lost the thriller by just 9 runs, failing to successfully gun down 192.
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DREAM SHOT VS BUMRAH
While Ashutosh was hitting sixes effortlessly on Thursday, his sweep against Jasprit Bumrah was the highlight of his knock. Off a free hit, Ashutosh moved across the off-stump and swept a Jasprit Bumrah yorker into the deep-fine leg stands, a shot that left some of the greats of the game, including Zaheer Khan in awe.
"It was my dream to sweep Bumrah. I kept practising for it. But, it came against the world's best bowler. It's okay. It's part of the game," Ashutosh said, recalling the shot.
Ashutosh Sharma credited Sanjay Bangar, coach Trevor Bayliss and captain Shikhar Dhawan for backing him and keeping faith in him. The young batter, who had a tough time during his days in Madhya Pradesh, has been thriving for Railways in domestic cricket. Ashutosh has had red-ball success too, having hit a hundred in his Ranji Trophy debut earlier in the season.
"The celebration was for Sanjay Bangar sir. I am working hard with him. He gave me a chance and kept belief in me. Our head coach Trevor Bayliss, Shikhar Dhawan, everybody believed me, so it was for them," he added.
Punjab were reeling for 14 for 4 and then 77 for 6 after losing all their big guns, including Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma. It was the usual suspects in Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma who brought the equation down with 34-run stand before Shashank departed in the 13th over to a Jasprit Bumrah slower one.
Ashutosh kept going and smashed the MI bowlers to all parts of the park, bringing the equation down to 28 off 24 balls. However, the young batter got out after a tight over from Jasprit Bumrah, when trying to hit Gerald Coetzee into the stands in the first delivery of the 18th over, ending PBKS's hopes of pulling off a miracle.
Nonetheless, with scores of 31 off 17, 33 not out off 15, 31 off 16 and 61 off 28, Ashutosh is making all the right noises in his maiden IPL stint.
Published By:
Akshay Ramesh
Published On:
Apr 19, 2024
English (US) ·