NEWS
Follow UsAfter having been reduced to 11/3 and then 60/4 by 7.3 overs, the Lucknow Super Giants were looking well set to execute their chase to perfection when KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran took them to 145/4 by the end of the 14th over. Then Sandeep Sharma arrived.
Sandeep came to bowl only in the 15th over of the game but bowled three overs for just 22 and picked up KL Rahul’s wicket.
He executed his plan of wide deliveries to perfection and got KL caught out in the deep while trying to clear the deep point boundary. That broke that most crucial partnership for the Supergiants, and after that, he just grew in confidence and ensured that he killed the chase by displaying an excellent mix of deliveries.
When asked about this performance in the post-match presentation, Ravichandran Ashwin was quite impressed with Sandeep Sharma and called him an unsung hero on the side.
“The IPL and the game [of cricket] itself is built by perception. If you look at the numbers and how Sandy has bowled over the years, he’s probably amongst the top 5 bowlers bowling with the new ball and later in the game as well. He’s had a massive shoulder injury, and he has had to sit out, then had an indifferent two years, but he’s been quite the unsung hero.”
Sandeep came into the Rajasthan Royals squad after Prasidh Krishna was injured and ruled out of IPL 2023. He had a below-average season with just ten wickets in 12 games at an economy of 8.61, averaging 39.6 runs/wicket. However, that was largely due to the fact that he bowled the hard overs for the team, either at the death or right at the start.
Hence, Ashwin wasn’t wrong to talk about the “unsung” part of his story in the IPL.
“[He] stepped up for Prasidh last year and did the dirty job. Sometimes, it doesn’t look very attractive on the figures, but again, Sandy [Sandeep] is a character. For me, it’s not about how good somebody looks on the eye. It’s about the skills they have. It's about the fight they have.”
“Largely, I feel, especially in the T20 format, a bowler [who is ready] for a fight is way more valuable than a bowler with a lot of skill,” Ashwin added with a deliberate pause and stress.
The Royals skipper Sanju Samson was all praise as well for Sandeep. It echoed sentiments similar to Ashwin's, even saying that he had actually thought of sharing his Player of the Match trophy with Sandeep Sharma.
“I think I should give this trophy to him (Sandeep Sharma). If he didn't bowl those three overs, I wouldn't be standing here [as Player of the Match]. I thought I should call him. But then I thought kuch zyada ho jayega [it would be too much].”
“I heard Ash [Ashwin] bhai say it's not just about skill but character in pressure moments. He has that in his eyes and body language that you can trust that guy,” Samson added.
