New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 81 runs in the IPL T20 cricket series yesterday against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Chasing a target of 205 runs, Bengaluru were bowled out for 123 runs in 17.4 overs. The 19-year-old debutant spinner Suyash Sharma also contributed well in Kolkata’s win.
Suyash Sharma, who replaced Venkatesh Iyer under the impact player rule, took the wickets of Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat and Karan Sharma with his leg spin. Suyash did not play in first-class cricket, including Mushtaq Ali or Vijay Hazare. He is playing for Delhi U-25 team. Suyash’s performance without any pressure in front of around 70,000 fans who came to watch the match with no experience of first-class matches drew attention from everyone.
However, the Kolkata team bought Suyash for his base price of Rs.20 lakhs in the auction. Suyash Sharma hails from East Delhi’s Bajanpura area. Suyash’s delivery was different from the usual leg spin. His hand speed, leg break and googly have impressed the fans a lot. Suyash’s cricketing journey has not been easy as he made his arrival known to the world as a young calf with long hair and charming body language.
Unlike Kolkata, Chennai or Mumbai, Delhi club cricket is not profitable as there are no paying clubs in Delhi and no formal contracts. Unless there is strong support from a club or individual members who control at least 10-15 votes in Delhi cricket, it is difficult to get a chance in various age groups in the state teams. Suyash has got his chance by winning such cricket politics with his skills.
Delhi coach Randhir Singh said: “It is not an easy journey for Suyash. He is a student of former Delhi spinner Suresh Patra. Suyash used to play for his club. We lost Suresh Patra to Corona. After that Suyash came to me asking for training. I gave Suyash an opportunity to play for my Madras club in the Delhi Cricket Association League and for Run-Star Club in the Open matches.
The past year has been very difficult for Suyash, who does not come from an economically well-off family. His father was diagnosed with cancer. Rahul Sanghvi, former Delhi spinner and manager of Mumbai Indians’ talent scouting team, helped with the medical expenses. I think Suyash will be forever indebted to Rahul Sanghvi for this. We never paid Suyash in Delhi Club Cricket.
No one gets paid except him. In professional cricket, income from club matches is only if you also play for the Indian team
can get. 5 spinners from our club have played in IPL so far. Pawan Negi, Pradeep Sahu, Tejas Baroka,
Suyash is currently playing in the IPL series alongside Yuvendra Chahal.
It was in the Delhi Cricket Association League held last year that Suyash’s fast googlies became popular and he took the most wickets. He took 7 wickets in the Delhi Cricket Association Challenger Trophy series. Through this, he got a place in the Delhi under-25 team and played white ball matches. But the funny thing is that he was dropped in (Test match) series including CK Naidu Trophy. If he is not given a chance, how will his ability be known?
Suyash performed brilliantly in the Delhi Cricket Association Challenger Trophy, which was the main event for Delhi Under-25 team selection. But that alone was not enough. Because Suyash is rumored to be a resident of Rajasthan. That Hon
Rumors were rife in Delhi Cricket Association circles that he was from Rajasthan as Kagan Koda from Latham was the head of selectors and Pankaj Singh was the U-25 head coach.
But that was false as Suyash played all his cricket in Delhi. As a result, Delhi U-25 coach Pankaj Singh and head of selectors Kagan Koda included Suyash in the white ball squad for the BCCI U-25 tournament.
Pankaj Singh said, “For me, what matters is what kind of talent I saw in him during the selection process. Suyash is talented and that’s why I wanted to include him in the U-25 squad. As a trainer, I wanted to check his basic skills. He can turn the ball off the surface.
He was not very tall, but the bowling technique was good. And the leg-break and googly without variation was a special skill. He had it. The speed of his googly is almost equal to the leg-break. Many wrist spinners bowl less googly speed. This is where Suyash stands out.
Without participating in any first-class cricket like Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali series, it is difficult to directly participate in the IPL series and perform well, there is no doubt about it. But he has the talent for it.”
