Sandeep Sharma is the powerplay Jasprit Bumrah
Did you know that Sandeep Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah have virtually the same record in IPL cricket?
No seriously. They do.
One of them is a simple medium pacer who, it might seem, requires helpful conditions to be at his best. The other is an all-format bowling force. A once in a generation cricketer. And they have the same record.
So how come one gets superstar billing and the other - while being a staple of the IPL - is largely looked over.
Well the simple reason is Bumrah saves his team when the whole damn game is on the line. He comes on when Andre Russell is starting to get hot. He comes on when AB de Villiers is looking to go 360. He comes on when they go into a Super Over. These are all viciously pressure-riddled scenarios and Bumrah succeeds in them time and time again.
That expressionless walk back to the top of his mark. The breath he takes before starting to run in. The awkward action. The awesome pace. The breathtaking clarity of mind. The machine-like execution. It's like Hollywood built a fast bowler and dropped him in Ahmedabad for India to enjoy.
Sandeep can't live up to that billing. For one, he can't bowl fast. And that limits your options so badly. Bouncers can become hit-me-for-six balls. Batsmen have extra time to move around the crease and mess up your lines and lengths. You'll have to arm yourself with variations. It's a lot of work.
Luckily, Sandeep loves that. He slogs through thousands of overs in first-class cricket. Even though no one watches that. It might seem a silly gripe. But wouldn't you want everyone to know when you do something well? Didn't you run over to every single one of our family members to show that exam in which you got 100/100? Recognition is important. In a world dominated by social media, it can even be life-changing.
Sandeep deserves it simply because he does this one thing as good as anybody else. Even Bumrah.
He pwns top-order batsmen in the IPL.
Here is a sample of his work. He has dismissed Virat Kohli seven times in 13 matches. He has knocked over Rohit Sharma four times in 14 matches. The latest was the result of a ball that moved in just a smidge and just late enough to mess with the timing of a chip that was meant to carry over mid-off. He has even taken down T20's greatest batsman four times in 11 innings. Chris Gayle averages an anaemic 10.25 runs against this mean old merchant of the dibblies and dobblies.
Through the course of Tuesday's game - one that the Sunrisers had to win to make the playoffs - Sandeep overtook a World Cup winner in Zaheer Khan to become the most successful bowler in IPL powerplays. Of his 108 wickets in the tournament so far, 62 belong to openers and No. 3s. This is his game. This is his value. This is his genius. Sandeep is the powerplay Bumrah.
His round-arm action pushes the ball in the opposite direction to which he wants it to swing it so that the movement is both subtle enough and late enough to beat the middle and take the edge. But he knows if things don't go for him, he will likely get pasted. Quinton de Kock launched him for four, six and six in the fifth over in Sharjah but the next ball he faced nibbled just far enough away from his reach that he inside-edged it onto his stumps.
Sandeep isn't Hollywood. But he's still very very good.
With inputs from Gaurav Sundararaman