Ashutosh Sharma's Audacious Batting Shakes Mumbai Indians in IPL Clash

Dreams that involve "hitting a sweep shot" against Jasprit Bumrah reveal a lot about a person's batting philosophy. Due to his daring with the bat, Ashutosh Sharma has drawn attention.

With seven sixes and two fours in his innings of 61 off 28 balls on Thursday, the 25-year-old Punjab Kings batsman put the Bumrah-led Mumbai Indians bowling to the test, raising the possibility of an unexpected loss for Hardik Pandya's club. Despite needing to reach a 193-run goal, Punjab lost the game by 9 runs due to Ashutosh's dismissal.

Ashutosh dived down on his knees to turn a Bumrah yorker attempt into a full toss and hammered it for a six over backward square leg in the 13th over of Punjab's chase.

"Beating Bumrah with a sweep shot was my dream." After the game, Ashutosh remarked, "I was practicing for that shot, but it came against the best bowler in the world. It's just part of the game."

This season, one of the surprises has been the right-handed hitter. He gives appreciation to Sanjay Bangar, Punjab Kings' head of cricket development, for that.

"Sanjay Sir assured me that I could play decent cricket shots and that I am not a slogger. Although it was a brief sentence, to me it meant a great deal. What has changed in my game is that I am just following it; I am not a hard-hitter; instead, I am playing excellent cricket shots," Ashutosh remarked.

"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 stated.

Ashutosh's rage caused anxiety in the Mumbai Indians camp.

"It's unbelievable how Ashutosh played and struck the ball right in the middle. It's excellent for his prospects. We did discuss it during the break. It tried everyone's nerves," Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya remarked.

Gerald Coetzee, a pacer for Mumbai, said: "He really brought it to us." All we wanted was to be strategically very clear about what we intended to achieve. However, as I believe everyone observed, it was tense."

Even if things ultimately did not work out as Ashutosh had predicted, he expressed confidence in Punjab to cross the finish line. "I had belief in myself that I would be able to win the game for the team," he stated.

The bum factor

Ashutosh was outstanding in the game once again, dismissing Sam Curran, Rilee Rossouw, and the dangerous Shashank Singh, even though he may have loved his sweeping six off Bumrah.

However, according to former Australian cricket player Tom Moody, Punjab Kings were able to reenter the game because the Mumbai Indians did not employ Bumrah correctly.

"Once more, Mumbai is heavily depending on him to change its fate. When he bowled his first two overs, the Punjab Kings were in complete control. However, it's noteworthy to note that he didn't bowl until the 13th over, according to Moody.

"Right now, he's at the height of his abilities. And that's why I believe the Mumbai Indians let the Punjab Kings to get back into this game."

This season, Hardik's captaincy has come under fire several times. The captain of the Mumbai Indians isn't enjoying himself. Additionally, he was fined Rs 12 lakh for his team's poor over-rate during the game on Thursday.