One of the most impactful players in the IPL this year has been Ashutosh Sharma, who frequently delivers explosive cameos. At least on the outside, Ashutosh exudes pure glee, whereas batsmen typically tens up. This IPL, no other batsman has looked for reactions from the opposition even as he has often done, admiring his own hits with a childlike delight.
The situation appeared dire when his regular partner-in-crime, Shashank Singh, was caught off guard by a slower ball from Jasprit Bumrah in the opening ball of the thirteenth over. Punjab needed to score 82 runs from 47 balls with just three wickets remaining.
But, Ashutosh shouted and attempted to grab the attention of any opposing players who could have been seeing him as he went down on his knee to sweep Bumrah for a breathtaking six in the same over. With a gracious smile, Rohit Sharma would comply. In addition, he displayed a few exciting helicopter pulls for sixes on Romario Shepherd and Hardik Pandya, standing with his legs bowed and without moving at all, a la Henrich Klassen, but only positioning himself to get his hands moving. The game appeared to get tighter as they required 36 from 26 balls in the 16th over after he blasted two sixes off Akash Madhwal – the first over long-off and the second reverse-lapped over third man. However, Mumbai’s bowling heroes came back to win the victory.
First, Bumrah conceded just three runs in a bumper-filled 17th over from the bowl. The game changed once more when Gerald Coetzee, who had already removed two wickets with the new ball, similar to Bumrah, got Ashutosh to pull a bouncer to the deep midwicket fielder. Punjab didn’t have enough batsmen to get across the finish line, needing only 25 from 17 balls and 11 from the final over. Kagiso Rabada, who had struck his opening ball off Pandya for a six in the last over, was unable to return in time to continue the attack, and the game ended by a run out.
Surya defeats Rabada
Henrich Klassen, who once attempted to emulate Ab de Villiers before realising the futility of the endeavour, has been highlighting his idol’s unique quality. “What makes his work so brilliant is that he can predict the bowler’s exact bowling location 70–80% of the time—a skill that is unteachable.”
Suryakumar Yadav also occasionally conveys the same feelings. He can at least fit the ball into his framework if he doesn’t know where the bowler will bowl. It seems as though he anticipated what Kagiso Rabada would bowl in the eighth over. A back-of-length strike that focuses on the off stump. Suryakumar, who was already on an off-and-middle guard, moved slightly in the direction of off immediately before release, but not too early. And the ball soared beyond the backward square-leg boundary with that deft wristswat.
There were a few more moments against Rabada in the sixteenth over. Rabada chased him with a length ball as he backed off with his outside leg. Instead of mowing it down with a leg, Suryakumar went inside out over more cover. If the eighth over seemed to be about him guessing what the ball might be, then this one appeared to be when he placed the ball into his stroke frame. He slid towards off for the next ball and placed it into backward square-leg stands upon receiving a full toss on the middle.
The trademark stroke of England’s Mal Loye, who would make a late debut at nearly thirty-three following a series of injuries, was the sweep shot off pacers. In his first game at the Gabba in 2006, Loye, no less, took Brett Lee for an unbelievable six. Ashutosh’s sweeping six against Bumrah would also rank among the highlights of this IPL season, even if he would surely lament the opportunity lost to lead his team to victory.
