Sandeep Sharma

Summary

Sandeep Sharma (born 18 May 1993) is an Indian cricketer[1] who plays domestic cricket for Chandigarh. He is a right-arm medium pace bowler. Sharma has represented India at two Under-19 World Cups – 2010 and 2012. He was a key member of the Indian under-19 team which emerged as winners of the 2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He was signed up by Kings XI Punjab in 2013 following his bowling performances at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup.[2] He got the appetite for bowling yorkers and received reputation for his ability to swing the ball.[3] His bowling style often resembled to that of Praveen Kumar's.

Sandeep Sharma
Personal information
Full name
Sandeep Sharma
Born (1993-05-18) 18 May 1993 (age 30)
Patiala, Punjab, India
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast medium
RoleBowler
International information
National side
T20I debut (cap 54)17 July 2015 v Zimbabwe
Last T20I19 July 2015 v Zimbabwe
T20I shirt no.66
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2011–2021Punjab
2013–2017, 2022Punjab Kings (squad no. 66)
2018–2021Sunrisers Hyderabad (squad no. 66)
2022Chandigarh
2023Rajasthan Royals
Career statistics
Competition T20I FC LA T20
Matches 2 46 54 148
Runs scored 1 560 178 101
Batting average 10.37 17.80 11.22
100s/50s 0/1 0/0 0/0
Top score 1* 51 26* 13*
Balls bowled 42 9,489 2,774 3,225
Wickets 1 168 85 161
Bowling average 73.00 27.17 26.07 25.03
5 wickets in innings 9 3 0
10 wickets in match 1 0 0
Best bowling 1/39 7/25 7/19 4/8
Catches/stumpings 0/– 12/– 19/– 28/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 13 December 2021

Early career edit

Sandeep began his career as a batsman for his school in Patiala before being convinced by his coach to switch to seam bowling. He played a huge role in India's victory over hosts Australia during the 2012 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup final where he was the pick of the bowlers in the final claiming four wickets in a ten-over spell which included two maidens conceding 58 runs and his bowling spell restricted Australia to 225/8 before India chased down the total comfortably by six wickets.[4] He dismissed future Australian Internationals Cameron Bancroft and Ashton Turner. He was also the joint highest wicket-taker for India with 12 scalps at the 2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

He was also the joint highest wicket-taker for India with 12 scalps in 2012 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

By the tender age of 21, Sandeep had gained a reputation as a swing bowler. He also received praise from former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist for his ability to hoop the ball around. Bharat Arun and Ramakrishnan Sridhar coached him during his formative years at the National Cricket Academy.[5]

Indian Premier League edit

Sharma took three wickets for 21 runs on his IPL debut match when he played for Kings XI Punjab against Sunrisers Hyderabad on 11 May 2013. He enjoyed a stellar run during the 2014 Indian Premier League season with Kings XI Punjab taking 18 wickets in 11 matches and was also the leading wicket-taker for Kings XI Punjab during that season.[6] His exploits with the ball also propelled Kings XI Punjab to their first ever IPL final which they eventually lost to Kolkata Knight Riders.

In the 2017 edition of the IPL, Sharma claimed 3/22 from his four overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore and in the process became the first bowler to get the trio of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers out in the same game.[7] He spent his first six IPL seasons with Kings XI Punjab with whom he gained fair share of success by grabbing 73 wickets including 40 wickets in the powerplay overs while taking 20 wickets in the death overs. He picked up 39 wickets in his first three IPL seasons which eventually got him an Indian call-up.

In January 2018, he was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2018 IPL auction.[8] In February 2022, he was bought by the Punjab Kings in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament.[9] In March 2023, he was brought in by Rajasthan Royals for the 2023 Indian Premier League as an injury replacement for Prasidh Krishna after initially being unsold in the 2023 IPL Auction.[10][11] He made his comeback in 2023 IPL season as he was tasked as the main reliable frontline bowler for Rajasthan Royals to deliver in the powerplay and in the death.[12][13][14] He holds the record of being the second best bowler in powerplay overs in the history of IPL with a tally of 55 wickets only second behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar.[15] He featured in the 1000th IPL match and in the match against Mumbai Indians, he dismissed Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma for the fifth time in his IPL career.[16]

International career edit

After his impressive domestic season with Punjab and Kings XI Punjab, Sharma was picked in the 15-man squad for the limited overs tour of Zimbabwe in July 2015. He made his Twenty20 International debut against Zimbabwe on 17 July 2015.[17] However, he was not able to live up to the expectations in both the T20Is against Zimbabwe where he leaked many runs. He also endured several back injuries and shoulder problems which eventually cut short his international career.[5] He suffered a stress fracture followed by a shoulder injury which kept him out of the sport for roughly 18 months.[18]

References edit

  1. ^ Sandeep Sharma – ESPNcricinfo profile
  2. ^ Sandeep Sharma Signed by Kings XI Punjab
  3. ^ Mukherjee, Abhishek (1 May 2023). "Watch: Sandeep Sharma Bamboozles Rohit Sharma With Slow Knuckle-Ball". Wisden. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Aust U19 vs India U19 Scorecard 2012 | Cricket Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Sandeep Sharma: 'If I bowl a yorker and it backfires, I'll still take it'". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Pepsi Indian Premier League, 2014 bowling most wickets career Records". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Sandeep Sharmas rare feat: Gets Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers". Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  8. ^ "List of sold and unsold players". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  9. ^ "IPL 2022 auction: The list of sold and unsold players". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Matthew Short Joins Punjab Kings; Sandeep Sharma Signed By Rajasthan Royals". Indian Premier League. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Honesty, pragmatism and staying in present – Sandeep Sharma's mantra". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Rahane, Chawla, Mishra and others with surprise comebacks at IPL 2023". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Sandeep Sharma an unsung hero of the Indian Premier League: Michael Vaughan". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  14. ^ "IPL 2023: New lease of life for Rajasthan Royals pacer Sandeep Sharma". The Times of India. 20 April 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  15. ^ "most wickets in powerplay in ipl overall". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  16. ^ Agarwal, Naman (1 May 2023). "Amit Mishra, Vinay Kumar, Sandeep Sharma – Eight Bowlers Who Have Had The Better of Rohit Sharma in IPL". Wisden. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  17. ^ "India tour of Zimbabwe, 1st T20I: Zimbabwe v India at Harare, Jul 17, 2015". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  18. ^ "Sandeep Sharma: Faster, trickier, unluckier". The Times of India. 10 November 2019. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 12 May 2023.

External links edit

  • Sandeep Sharma – ESPNcricinfo profile
  • Sandeep Sharma's profile page on Wisden