Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra hailed Sandeep Sharma’s match-winning spell against Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur on Monday. Sharma returned with impressive figures of 5-18 in his quota of four overs, which is his best bowling figures in the IPL.
Sharma accounted for Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav in his opening spell. Subsequently, the right-arm seamer bagged three more wickets in his final over, removing a well-settle Tilak Varma, Tim David, and Gerald Coetzee.
Thus, he played an instrumental role in keeping Mumbai Indians to 179 and was awarded Player of the Match after RR won comprehensively by nine wickets. Sharma was making a return to the final XI after recovering from an injury and he was able to hit the ground running.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “Sandeep picked up five wickets. He was unavailable for a few matches, he wasn’t fit, but as soon as he became fit, he became superhit. Taking five wickets is not an easy job but if you see his figures, you will say that he almost bowled four maiden overs. He bowled in the powerplay and then at the death as well.”
“He dismissed two players at the start and three players later. He was absolutely stellar, spectacular, outstanding and sensational. That’s Sandeep Sharma. He is an extremely underrated bowler. He went unsold. The story from going unsold till here – take a bow, my friend, I love you a lot,” the former India opener added.
On the other hand, Yashasvi Jaiswal got back amongst the runs as he scored a fantastic knock of unbeaten 104 off 60 balls. The left-hander scored nine fours and seven sixes in his blistering knock. Jaiswal added 109 runs with his skipper Sanju Samson for the second wicket. The renowned commentator lauded Jaiswal for returning to his best.
“When it was Rajasthan’s turn to bat, Jos Buttler hit a little at the start and Yashasvi hit a lot. He scored a century. We were waiting for the time when the kid would come in form, and he did. I like him a lot for the way he plays. I was angry thus far because he was trying to hit the ball too hard. It seemed like he wanted to break the ball into two pieces,” he said.
Rajasthan Royals will next take on Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Saturday.
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