Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya and Punjab Kings captain Sam Curran during the toss ceremony ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 cricket match between Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at Maharaja Yadavendra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, in Mohali, On April 18, 2024. | Image source: PTI
Punjab Kings cricketer Ashutosh Sharma’s exploits with the willow received huge praise from Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya as well as his stand-in captain Sam Curran, with the former describing it as an “incredible” display.
Ashutosh and Shashank Singh emerged as unlikely heroes for Punjab Kings this IPL season, but the failure of the top order saw the team slip to ninth place in the IPL table despite some stunning performances by the duo.
On Thursday, Ashutosh took the game away from Mumbai Indians with a 28-ball 61 before losing to PBKS by nine runs chasing 193.
Ashutosh also pulled off a stunning shot against pacer Jasprit Bumrah, something that has not been done often against the Indian pacer.
“It’s unbelievable, playing the way he (Ashutosh) played and hitting the ball through the middle. (It’s) great for his future. We talked in the time-out about that, not about our appearance. We will keep fighting and make sure of that.” “(We) don’t bowl soft balls. The batsmen played good shots but we were weak on some shots,” Mr Pandya said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
The MI skipper breathed a sigh of relief with a close win, noting that every player’s nerves had been tested in the game.
“(It was) a very good match. Everyone’s nerves were tested. We talked that characters will be checked in this game. But (it’s) normal to think you are ahead but the Indian Premier League tends to show that the opposition can come back and how,” Pandya added. “.
Punjab Kings stand-in captain Sam Curran said it was encouraging to see youngsters like Ashutosh and Shashank rise to the occasion, despite losing in some close matches in the recent past.
He said, “Another close match. I think this team likes a close loss, but unfortunately another loss. Another incredible strike from the young man (Ashutosh), but another close loss.”
“It’s very difficult. We lost a lot of wickets at the start and the way the youngsters have approached the team is encouraging.” “They have unbelievable confidence, you see a guy like Ashutosh who has the confidence to make passes and big shots against the home-run players, it’s very cool to watch them play,” Curran said.
The Englishman said that there are many positives that can be extracted from such close defeats.
“It’s frustrating to lose close games, but there are a lot of positives in this team. We still have faith in ourselves, we believe we can turn that around, and the sun will rise tomorrow and hopefully we can go on a winning streak.” Curran said.
Player of the match Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled a brilliant spell of 21/3, said it was a much closer match than he expected.
“(It was) a much closer game than we thought. (I) want to make an impact early. In this format, the ball swings twice, and you want to take advantage of that,” he said.
Bumrah said the T20 format is harsh for bowlers and is skewed in favor of batsmen. “This format is a bit difficult for bowlers because the art of batting is gone, as well as the time constraints and the Impact Player rule. What you can do is prepare to the best of your ability and back yourself,” he said.
“Go out there and give your best. I try to convey messages from wherever I am on the field. You don’t want to send too many messages,” Bumrah added.
