"I couldn’t sleep. What if I could have bowled this ball or that ball?" - GT's Mohit Sharma recalls last over against CSK in IPL 2023 final
Gujarat Titans (GT) pacer Mohit Sharma has opened up about the last over he bowled against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) final. The MS Dhoni-led side secured their fifth title with a last-ball win in the rain-marred encounter at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Monday, May 29.
Veteran fast bowler Mohit was tasked with defending 13 runs in the final over against left-handed batters Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja. He was spot on with his yorkers for the better part of the over, leaving the Men in Yellow to get 10 runs off the last two deliveries.
However, Jadeja punished Mohit by hitting a six when the bowler missed his yorker on the penultimate delivery. The CSK all-rounder then finished off the contest with a boundary, with Mohit bowling a full-toss on leg-stump.
Mohit Sharma admitted while speaking with the Indian Express that he couldn't sleep after letting the match slip through.
“I couldn’t sleep," he said. "Sochta raha kya alag karta joh match jeet jaate (I kept pondering what I could have differently to make us win the match). What if I could have bowled this ball or that ball? It’s not a nice feeling now. Somewhere something is missing but I’m trying to move on."
Mohit was one of the biggest success stories of the season as he finished with 27 wickets in 14 matches, just one behind Purple Cap winner Mohammed Shami. Mohit had a big impact in the final too, dragging GT back into the contest with some key wickets.
"The ball landed where it shouldn’t have and Jadeja got his bat" - Mohit Sharma
It was the penultimate ball that reinstilled hope into the CSK camp, as Ravindra Jadeja dispatched the ball into the stands after it was delivered in the slot. Mohit Sharma claimed he was familiar with such high-pressure situations and that he backed himself to bowl yorkers.
"My mind was very clear in what I wanted to do," he said. "In the nets, I had practiced such situations and I have been in such scenarios before too. So I said let me bowl all balls yorkers and was backing my instinct."
GT head coach Ashish Nehra sent a message through a player from the sidelines before the fifth delivery. Skipper Hardik Pandya also had a long discussion with Mohit Sharma midway through the over.
While several fans and pundits believe those things threw Mohit off his rhythm, the pacer disputed such claims.
"They wanted to know what will be his plan of action," he said. "I said I will again try to bowl yorker. People are now saying this and that but frankly it has no meaning. I knew what I wanted to do."
“I ran and tried to bowl (yorker) again," he added. "I just wanted to be focussed and back myself. Whole IPL I have done that. The ball landed where it shouldn’t have and Jadeja got his bat. I tried, I tried my best.”
Will Mohit Sharma be rewarded with a national call-up following his exceptional IPL season? Let us know what you think.