Ashutosh Sharma: When Punjab Kings batting star had to fight depression and face financial difficulties

Ashutosh Sharma made the headlines on Thursday following his blistering knock of 61 off 28 balls for Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Mullanpur. PBKS, who had been set a target of 193, eventually went down by nine runs but Ashutosh’s knock was a silver lining during the chase.

It was only a couple of weeks back when Ashutosh, 25, came in as an Impact Player for PBKS and scored 31 off 17 against Gujarat Titans (GT) to help his team complete an incredible chase of 200, winning by three wickets. Ever since, Ashutosh has had scores of 33*, 31 and 61 but for the youngster from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, his rise to fame in the IPL has not come the easy way.

Between 2020 and 2022, Ashutosh had no idea where his career was headed after he had been overlooked by Chandrakant Pandit. Pandit had just taken over as head coach of the Madhya Pradesh team and Ashutosh revealed his struggles with depression amid the fallout with the coach.

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“I would go to the gym and retire to my hotel room. I was sinking into depression and no one told me what my fault was. A new coach had joined Madhya Pradesh and he had strong likes and dislikes and despite scoring 90 odd in 45 balls in a trial match, I was dropped from the team,” Ashutosh was quoted as saying by news agency PTI recently, without referring to Pandit’s name.

Former MP speedster Gourav Yadav and David Wiese of Namibia, the former KKR all-rounder have previously spoken out against Chandrakant Pandit. Ashutosh, despite having scored three fifties in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, struggled with depression since he wasn’t even allowed to go out to the ground.

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“I had three fifties in six Mushtaq Ali games in the previous season yet I wouldn’t even be allowed to go to the ground. I was very depressed,” added Ashutosh.

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However, things started to change after Ashutosh received a job offer from Railways and in 2023, he went on to break Yuvraj Singh’s record for the fastest T20 fifty by an Indian when he got to the milestone in just 11 balls, against Arunachal Pradesh in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match.

Ashutosh’s performance quickly came to the notice of PBKS batting coach Sanjay Bangar and was eventually snapped up by the team at the IPL auction for his base price of Rs 20 lakh.

‘Ashutosh had his own struggle’

Even starting his journey as a cricketer wasn’t easy for Ashutosh. There were no facilities to play professional cricket in his hometown Ratlam which forced him to stay away in Indore, away from his family. Also under financial pressure, Ashutosh used to do umpiring duties to earn money to buy food for himself.

“That time was very difficult as I had to stay away from home in Indore. I had my share of struggles, at times. I didn’t have money to buy food, so I would be umpiring to ensure one meal is ensured, staying in a very small accommodation, I had to wash my clothes, but MPCA academy helped me. Amay (Khurasiya) sir helped me a lot,” said Ashutosh.

Ashutosh’s father works at ESI Hospital in Ratlam and while his family did not have much financial struggles, Ashutosh was fighting a battle of his own. “Ashutosh’s father (Rambabu Sharma) works at ESI Hospital in Ratlam. We didn’t have financial struggles but from a young age Ashutosh had his own struggle. And it was when he joined Railways, uske sitaare chamak uthe,” said Hemalata, Ashutosh’s mother.

PBKS are in ninth place with four points from seven games and next take on Gujarat Titans on Sunday.