Rajasthan Royals (RR) bowler Sandeep Sharma on Monday revealed his plans after grabbing a fifer against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on Monday.
Bowling after a three-week injury layoff, the 30-year-old Sharma wreaked havoc in the Mumbai Indians camp with a splendid 5 for 18, at an economy rate of 4.50.
"Got fit the day before yesterday only. The first game after fitness, feeling good. The pitch was on the slower side and lower side, so my plan was to keep bowling variations and cutters. If you're bowling in the end, you have to have a big heart," Sandeep said.
"Have seen in the IPL, that bowlers are under the pump. Need to have a big heart and keep executing plans. As you know, I went unsold two years ago. Came in as a replacement. So I'm enjoying every game," the 30-year-old added.
"In this year's IPL, batters are going big and with the impact player rule, there is an extra batter so the games are high-scoring. You have to have a big heart while bowling at the death and try to execute your plans and bowl good balls."
Sharma, who started off as a new-ball exponent in the IPL, has been tasked to bowl the death overs by the Royals in the three games that he has played this season.
"Even today you ask me where I feel comfortable, I'll say it's with the new ball. With the old ball, you have to adapt and evolve as a bowler," he said.
Sharma returned to the RR playing XI after recuperating from a side strain that kept him out for close to a month.
"I was working hard towards my fitness for the last three weeks. I had two practice sessions before the game, my main focus was to execute the variations that I did tonight."
Against MI, Sharma's scalps included the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, the big hitting Tim David, Ishan Kishan and Gerald Coetzee.
He took three wickets in the final over, restricting MI to 179 despite a 99-run stand between Varma and Nehal Wadhera.
"If you're bowling at the death, it can go both ways. Sometimes, you go for runs, and when you're lucky enough you end up getting a wicket. When we started, the wicket was low and slow. My plan was to keep bowling those cutters and it came off nicely tonight." he said.
Following the win, RR hold the top spot in the IPL 2024 standings with 14 points. Meanwhile, MI stand in seventh place with six points.
