Gujarat Titans had batted well throughout, led by Shubman Gill’s brilliant anchoring knock, and a late flurry took GT to a daunting total of 199 on a pitch that’s kinder to bowlers than most. The top-heavy Punjab Kings found themselves struggling when they lost their marquee batsman and captain Shikhar Dhawan cheaply and lost both their openers within the power play.
Punjab weren’t ever too behind on the required run rate, but they never could seem to reach it. And to add to their woes, they were rapidly losing wickets, the batting looking in disarray as a partnership seemed like a Herculean task. Even as the wickets crumbled, Punjab weren’t out of it and were hanging on, if only by a thread. But when Jitesh Sharma found the unfortunate hands of the fielder after clubbing Rashid Khan for 2 sixes, the result was looking simply out of reach for them. At one end was Shashank Singh, a man who found himself in the team roster purely because of an auction mistake where Punjab thought he was a different player. Joining him at the other was Ashutosh Sharma, who was a pinch hitter, sure, but an unproven talent who was staring at a high-pressure situation as his welcome to the IPL. But what followed was the stuff of dreams.
Shashank Singh started off in good fashion when he was batting, hitting 4-6-4 in a Umesh Yadav over and just looked in much better nick than the other games, perhaps because he was finally in a position where he could express himself, with the overs that were ahead of him. He was nailing those hits, finding the middle of the bat even when he wasn’t finding the boundary. It looked like he was batting on a different pitch, and the 20L player they bought by mistake was a glimmer of hope for Punjab that was getting brighter and brighter. As he swivelled his way to a boisterous 61 in a mere 29 balls, all of it still felt a bit unreal, and Punjab seemed to have found a finisher, something they had been in the hunt for quite a few years.
His partner Ashutosh Sharma was no less, taking to the spotlight like a king to his throne (pun intended), who played more than just a supportive role alongside Shashank Singh as he raced to 31 off just 17. Playing his first game as an impact player coming in at a crucial situation, he did justice to the team management’s faith, dispatching even good balls to the boundary as GT was scrambling under what initially seemed like defiance but had now clearly turned into a race for the target that was clearer and clearer in sight. And as Ashutosh Sharma got out on the first ball of the last over, he had done what his team needed. All that was required was for Shashank to finish things off, and when he finally did as Punjab reached their target of 200, it wasn’t just a victory from the jaws of defeat, it was the emergence of bright Indian youth.
Punjab Kings always have looked dependent on their foreign quota to win their games. Still, having unearthed domestic gems in the game against GT, they surely must realise the importance of uncapped Indian talent. Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh, the last pair of recognised batsmen and ones who you least expected to breach that total of 199 achieved the impossible. This thwarting of GT will not be forgotten by most PBKS fans, and more performances like this may catch the eyes of a future selector. Ah, to be a witness to emerging Indian talents in every edition of the IPL is a gift!
