Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders surprised everyone in the current IPL season by fielding 19-year-old Suyash Sharma, who has not played in any recognized cricket competition, against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The team management did not let the trust placed on him in vain in an environment where no one knew about him as a leg-spinner. who is he?
In last year’s IPL auction, 10 teams competed for crores of rupees to bid for players. All these in-demand players have proven their mettle at some point in international cricket or domestic cricket. But Suyash’s story is completely different.
Before the match against Bengaluru, Suyash had not played any recognized cricket like List A, First Class cricket or T20. He replaced Venkatesh Iyer as an impact player in the second innings. Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat and Karan Sharma took the wickets and contributed to the team’s victory.
The 19-year-old hails from East Delhi’s Bajanpura. Kolkata bought him in the IPL auction held in December last year for his base price of Rs 20 lakh. He is part of the Delhi Under-25 Cricket Team.
Suyash has been identified through a scouting program conducted by the Kolkata team to identify young players. His cricket journey started seven years ago. Suyash Sharma has been identified to former Delhi cricketer Qatar Nath by cricket coach Suresh Batra. However, his place in the Delhi team was not so easy. He had to fight for it. Suyash has passed the trial held by the Kolkata team at that time. He bowled leg spin and googly at good pace and attracted the selectors. He was later bought by Kolkata at the auction. Team CEO Venky Mysuru says the whole reason for this is Kolkata’s search for the young player.
“He bowls inside and outside the batsman. Batsmen are a little hesitant to face him. His attitude and game spirit is excellent. We can see it in our camp. We have only seen him in trial matches,” said Chandrakant Pandit, the head coach of the Kolkata team.
This young player bowled 4 overs and scored 30 runs and took 3 wickets in the first match. “He didn’t get any proper opportunity in cricket during Corona. So his family also consulted him to answer his cricket game. His mother called me and informed about it. I asked his mother to wait for some time. He took my word for it. Only then did these opportunities come to him. He bowled only a few deliveries against Bengaluru. You have to practice hard to continue this journey. He has great potential. Kathar Nath has said that he should perform well for the Kolkata team.
