Tilak Varma guided Mumbai Indians to a thrilling win.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Punjab Kings’ Ashutosh Sharma plays a shot during their match against Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, in Chandigarh on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Punjab Kings’ batting sensation Ashutosh Sharma said he lived a “dream” when he swept “world’s best fast bowler” Jasprit Bumrah during his team’s IPL clash against Mumbai Indians here.

The 25-year-old Ashutosh put the Bumrah-led Mumbai Indians’ bowling to sword here on Thursday when he hammered seven sixes and two fours to make 61 off a mere 28 balls, a knock which brought PBKS back from the brink after an early collapse.

PBKS were 17/4 inside the powerplay but courtesy the stunning fightback from Ashutosh and Shashank Singh (41), they were able to get close to MI’s 193-run target before losing by nine runs.

It was in the 13th over of Punjab’s chase when Ashutosh got down low on his front to convert an attempted yorker from Bumrah into a full toss and smack it for a six over backward square leg.

“It was my dream to hit a sweep shot against Bumrah. I was practising for that shot but it came against the best bowler in the world – it is a part of the game,” Ashutosh told the media here after the match.

Ashutosh said he was confident of taking Punjab over the line.

“I had belief in myself that I would be able to win the game for the team,” he said.

Ashutosh credited former India player and coach Sanjay Bangar, head of cricket development at PBKS, for his improvement this season.

“Sanjay sir told me that I am not a slogger and that I can play proper cricket shots. It was a small statement but carried a huge meaning for me. I am only following it – I am not a hard-hitter, I am playing proper cricketing shots and that is what has changed my game,” Ashutosh said.

“Back home, I was working with my coach Amay Khurasiya who had told me that the longer you stay on the pitch, the more your team has a chance of winning,” he added.

The right-handed batter, who made some gestures towards the PBKS dugout after completing his fifty, said the celebrations were meant for his team management.

“That celebration was for our Sanjay (Bangar) sir, I have been working a lot with him and I keep asking him questions,” Ashutosh said.

“He gave me a chance, and also the entire Punjab team which showed belief in me. Our head coach Trevor Bayliss, Ashish (Tuli) paaji, Shikhar (Dhawan) paaji, everyone believed in me, so it was for all of them,” he added.

Punjab slumped to their fifth defeat in seven matches as well as to the ninth spot in the points table, but Ashutosh said his side has been playing well.

“Winning and losing are part of the game. How you are playing is something that matters and we are playing well as a team. If we will play well, we will win,” he said.

Mumbai Indians’ pacer Gerald Coetzee conceded his side was tense after Ashutosh’s stunning onslaught.

“He really brought it to us. We just wanted to be really clear tactically what we wanted to do. We executed really well to him in the back end to shut it down and win the game,” the South African bowler said.

“But it was tense, as I think everyone saw. But it was just all tactical discussions,” he added.

Coetzee conceded Mumbai Indians could’ve been better with their slower balls, something that PBKS used perfectly in the first half.

“We just really learned from their innings. We adapted our plans and I think it worked,” Coetzee added.

Mumbai Indians batter Suryakumar Yadav plays a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 cricket match between Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, in Mohali, on April 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

On the 16th anniversary of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the tournament witnessed one of the most dramatic scripts that the crash, bang, wallop of T20 cricket can serve as Mumbai Indians pipped Punjab Kings by nine runs at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.

With the top and middle-order razed, Ashutosh Sharma and Harpreet Brar threatened to turn the match on its head in a 10-ball 16th over, preying on Akash Madhwal’s fuller lengths. The over cost Mumbai 24 runs and left Punjab needing a comfortable 28 from four overs.

Jasprit Bumrah was still left with one over and the duo duly rode it out with three singles. But the ensuing shift in momentum had Ashutosh pulling the next over’s first delivery, bowled by Gerald Coetzee, straight to deep mid-wicket.

Fate gave Madhwal a second chance and helped him out when Kagiso Rabada was run out off the second ball of the last over, off which Punjab needed 12 with one wicket left. 

With Ashutosh almost taking Punjab over the line, and Shashank Singh injecting the first ray of hope with a 25-ball 41 after the home side was reduced to 14 for four, the uncapped Indian duo was yet again left to do the heavy-lifting. Though the match ebbed and flowed, Punjab’s batting woes persisted and Jasprit Bumrah’s two-wicket first over, which accounted for Rilee Roussou and Sam Curran, only made matters worse.

Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav continued to play Russian roulette, notching up a 53-ball 78 (7×4, 3×6) after scores of 0, 52, 0. The right-hander, though not at his most destructive, was still inventive with his shot-making. 

With Mumbai going on the rampage in the late-overs after Suryakumar and Rohit Sharma’s 81-run stand for the second wicket, it was Harshal Patel, Punjab’s most profligate fast-bowler this year, who put the skids on the opposition by conceding just three runs in the final over.

Harshal mixed the yorkers and bouncers judiciously with his changes of pace to keep the batters guessing. Liam Livingstone and Brar conceded only 37 runs in five overs of spin and kept Mumbai below 200, which was still too much for the home side.