Impact player Ashutosh Sharma walked into bat on his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut in a pressure situation. After the fall of Jitesh Sharma, Punjab Kings (PBKS) needed 50 runs from 27 balls against Gujarat Titans (GT). He got an early reprieve when Umesh Yadav dropped his catch in the 17th over. In the next over, he went after Afghan pacer Azmatullah Omarzai and hit a couple of fours before another half chance got dropped. He finished the over with another four and tilted the odds in PBKS' favour. In the penultimate over, he hit a six off Mohit Sharma to make GT nervous. He departed for a 17-ball 31 cameo in the final over but was lauded for playing a big role in the run chase.
After PBKS' three-wicket win, Ashutosh thanked skipper Shikhar Dhawan, head of cricket development Sanjay Bangar, and former Indian cricketer Amay Khurasiya.
“I would like to thank the PBKS team for believing in me so much. Feels so good to perform and more importantly the team won, so I am happy about it. Shikhar paaji believed in me so much. I was normal and kept believing that I can do it,” the 25-year-old told the broadcasters after the thrilling encounter.
“To Sanjay sir I will thank him so much and he believed in me. He told me a lot of good things. I was normal and believed that I can do it because I have won games for my home team. Back home I was training with Amay Khurasiya sir. He told me when you get a chance you will become a hero.”
Dhawan praised Ashutosh alongside half-centurion Shashank Singh as he said, “I will also mention about Ashutosh, he came in and played a good knock under pressure.”
Broke Yuvraj’s record last year:
Ashutosh was roped in by PBKS for his base price of Rs 20 lakh in the Indian Premier League (IPL) mini auction. The Railways batter made headlines when he broke Yuvraj Singh's record for the fastest fifty in the format by an Indian. He hit an 11-ball fifty against Arunachal Pradesh in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023 in Ranchi.
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