Birthday special: Sandeep Sharma – A proven IPL performer who hasn’t got enough chances

The Punjab Kings pacer Sandeep Sharma has been an outstanding performer since the day he made his way into the IPL at the young age of 20. He was a crucial part of the bowling attack for the Punjab-based franchise (then Kings XI Punjab) for almost five years. He was released by the franchise after the 2017 IPL and was roped in by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the next four years.

But his best came for Punjab when he was the captain’s go-to person whenever the team was in trouble. In the 2017 edition of the cash-rich-event, while playing for the Kings XI Punjab against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sharma went on to scalp a dream trio of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, and AB de Villiers and stunned everyone with his performance.

The RCB trio is to date, one of the finest that the franchise has ever had. The three players, who held the ability to take their side to a victory single-handedly, were all dismissed by one man. It was a huge achievement for Sharma back then. During his tenure with KXIP, he also received his India call-up in the year 2015. He made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in Harare and played both the games of the series.

But his international career took a pause as soon as he made his debut. Sharma has not played any game wearing the blue jersey since the conclusion of the T20I series against Zimbabwe in July 2015. He was unable to impress in the Zimbabwe tour and thus lost his spot on the national side. He kept giving out his best in the IPL but was unable to make his way back into the Indian team.

Having played 104 IPL matches, the 29-year-old has scalped 114 wickets and recorded his best figures in the year 2017. He had a great run with SRH between 2018-2021 and earned 41 wickets in the four years tenure. He has been a proven performer for the teams that he has represented in IPL, and it is just a matter of time before he finds his way back into the national squad.