Former Australia captain Michael Clarke and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar showered Ashutosh Sharma with praise after the 26-year-old hit 66* off 31 deliveries to lead the Delhi Capitals (DC) to a one-wicket victory over the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their opening Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match.
Ashutosh came on to bat as an Impact Sub after DC lost their first five wickets for 65 runs while chasing a total of 210. Vipraj Nigam (39 off 15) and Tristan Stubbs (34 off 22) also contributed, but Ashutosh and No. 11 Mohit Sharma were the ones who helped DC cross the finish line. With three balls remaining, DC won the match thanks to Ashutosh’s five sixes and as many fours.
“This IPL will have a lot of incredible innings, but I can assure you that it will rank among the top five by the end of the competition. That was a game-changing performance that changed the outcome of the match. He got to his feet by himself, and his team was eliminated from the competition. Everyone knew he was going to hit a six or a four, so he just needed to strike. Regardless of your team, you really just need to relax, cheer, and enjoy that inning.
According to Michael Clarke on JioHotstar, “it was amazing.”
Ashutosh concluded a few games for the Punjab Kings last season and scored 189 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 167.25. “You have even more faith in yourself going into the next season after you’ve done it once. “He came in full of confidence because he’s been smashing the ball around and scoring plenty of runs in another season of domestic cricket,” Gavaskar added.
“He started hitting the ball cleanly from the centre of the bat and blasting it deep right away. These weren’t simply sporadic sixes that cleared the boundary; they kept landing in the stands. Because of the high-pressure scenario as well as the excellent stroke play, this innings will live on in memory for a very long time.
The Madhya Pradesh right-hander, who was purchased by DC for INR 3.8 crore at the mega auction, believes he has improved this season. On a few occasions throughout the previous season, I failed to complete the game. I concentrated on it and visualised it for the entire year. I thought that anything could happen if I played till the very end of the over.
“I had a great year last year, but that’s history for me. Taking the good things from that experience, I concentrated on improving my deficiencies. I’m using my experience playing domestic cricket. I simply followed the fundamentals and had faith in my skills. I was merely going through the motions. In order to hit in the slog overs, I wanted to get as deep as I could.
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