 "Who is Ashutosh Sharma - PBKS' Impact-Sub who made a mark against GT")
Ashutosh Sharma stepped in as the Impact Substitute for Punjab Kings against Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday. And was true to the role assigned to him - making an impact - and helping the side to a thrilling last-ball win .
His knock of 31 runs from 17 balls, with an imposing 200 run target on the board, helped PBKS to their second win of the IPL 2024 season .
Ashutosh came in to bat in the 16th over and piled a crucial partnership of 43 runs from 22 balls alongside Shashank Sharma to help Punjab close down the target that looked out of their reach at the time.
With three fours and a six, Ashutosh set the foundation for his teammates to finish the game off.
“I would like to thank the PBKS team for believing in me so much. Feels so good to perform and more importantly the team won, so I am happy about it,” said Ashutosh in the post-match press conference after a knock that included three fours a six.
He also highlighted the faith that PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan had showed in him to ask him to go for the win in dire situation.
“Shikhar paaji believed in me so much. I was normal and kept believing that I can do it,” exclaimed the hard-hitter who came to bat when PBKS were 150/6, needing 50 runs from less than five overs.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“To Sanjay (Bangar, Head of Cricket Development at PBKS) sir I will thank him so much and he believed in me. He told me a lot of good things. I was normal and believed that I can do it because I have won games for my home team. Back home I was training with Amay Khurasiya sir. He told me when you get a chance you will become a hero.”
Who is Ashutosh Sharma?
Ashutosh grabbed the headlines when he broke Yuvraj Singh’s record of fastest fifty by an Indian in T20s. The Ratlam-born and Indore-raised Ashutosh needed just 11 balls for a half century against Arunachal Pradesh in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) match in October 2023. He surpassed Yuvraj’s 16-year-old record of striking a fifty off just 12 balls, set against England in the 2007 T20 World Cup.
In the 2019 edition of SMAT, Ashutosh scored 58 runs against Mizoram, 60 against Meghalaya and an 84 against Puducherry for Railways.
As a kid, Ashutosh admired local boy Naman Ojha, who played for India, and helped Ashutosh in his journey.
“As a kid, I would watch Naman bhai play a lot, and that’s how I fell in love with the sport. I made my T20 debut for MP under Naman bhai’s captaincy, and I owe him a lot for all the support,” Ashutosh said in an interview with Sportstar last year.
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