Sandeep Sharma: Unsold on aesthetics, undroppable on performance
It was precisely at 10 minutes and eight seconds in the telephonic interview that this piece is based on, that Sandeep Sharma dropped the L-bomb. "L****** bowlers like me," he used in a sentence, suddenly, shockingly, appallingly.
Don't worry, the word wasn't anything abusive or derogatory. Not at all. It was a synonym of "restricted", rhymed with "visited" and you can find it here.
But to use that for a man who's third on the list of Indian fast bowlers with the most wickets in IPL history? That is, at the very least, disrespectful.
He can use that for himself. But here? Na-ah.
Sandeep meant to use it in terms of aesthetics. He says he belongs to a line of fast bowlers who are not six feet tall and don't bowl 140kph to rush the batters. He knows he doesn't have a unique action to confuse the new overseas hitters either.
But what is aesthetic, than just... aesthetic? He didn't need an extra bounce or 140 clicks to do in top-two-in-the-world Heinrich Klaasen against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Rajasthan Royals (RR)'s last game of IPL 2024, the second Qualifier.
Klaasen was batting at 50 (33) with two overs to come. Everyone knows what happens next.
But Sandeep, on the first ball of his last over of the match, yorked the South African, forcing his bails off and his leg stump to tilt and weep.
"That yorker dipped a bit," Sandeep tells Sportskeeda from Patiala. "I thought my slower bouncer was going really well the entire tournament and most of the time, my go-to ball was the slower bouncer. I was bowling from the big side i.e. Heinrich Klaasen's leg-side. So I thought he must be thinking that I would bowl a slow bouncer and he was prepared for that. But I bowled a yorker. The ball dipped a little and he got a little late."
It was barely 121kph. And Klaasen still got late.
Earlier in the match, Sandeep had taken out Travis Head with the slower bouncer so Klaasen's guess wasn't entirely wrong. But he, of all people, would know that years of hard work and the ability to outsmart the opponent beat aesthetics all day.
The South African was Sandeep's 13th and final wicket in IPL 2024. He was also his seventh in death overs.
Among those with seven or more wickets in this phase, only Jasprit Bumrah (6.07) and Avesh Khan (9.24) had a better economy rate than Sandeep's 10.08. Only Bumrah (eight) conceded fewer boundaries than Sandeep's 17.
The other top two in the world, Suryakumar Yadav, also got out to him earlier in the season on an unaesthetic ball: a 126kph leg-cutter on the pads.
It went exactly how Sandeep planned: Surya flicked it instinctively but didn't get the pace he was looking for so was early on the shot, getting a big leading edge for an easy catch at long-on. This was in a spell of 5/18, his IPL-best so far.
His other victims in 2024 included Nicholas Pooran, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Tristan Stubbs, and KL Rahul. This is despite him missing five games due to injuries.
Where did this death-overs bowler come from?
That Rahul dismissal epitomizes Sandeep even better. Because it's not the wicket itself but what led to it and what happened after it that made it special.
The Royals were defending 194 in their first match of the season against Rahul's Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). New-ball bowlers Trent Boult and Nandre Burger and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal had reduced LSG to 60/4 in no time.
However, Rahul and his vice-captain, the in-form Pooran, rebuilt superbly, taking their time early on and then looking for regular boundaries after the 10th over. The score had gone to 129-4 with the run-rate hugging 10 comfortably.
This is when Sandeep came in, bowling his first over in the innings' 15th. He went for just five runs, hurling only yorkers, slower bouncers, and wide, length balls.
In his next over, Rahul was under pressure to pull the game back and tried to reach out to a wide one on the first ball and sliced it straight to sweeper cover.
Sandeep almost had Pooran in his next over as well but he was dropped at long-on. The over, which was the 19th of the innings, still went for just 11 runs.
By the time he was done with his spell of 3-0-22-1, LSG looked dumbfounded as to why they suddenly needed 27 in the last over. And the match was sealed.
"I should give this trophy to him Sandeep," RR captain Sanju Samson said afterwards while receiving the Player of the Match award for his 82 (52). "If he didn't bowl those three overs, I wouldn't be here."
For those who grew up watching Sandeep play for the then-Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), this was a cultural shock.
This was the man who used to torment Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma with his swing in the powerplay, the youngster who got Australian openers Cameron Bancroft and Jimmy Peirson early in the 2012 Under-19 World Cup final.
The numbers back nostalgia too. Sandeep has bowled the second-most overs in IPL powerplays - 269, averaging over 2.2 overs in this phase every innings till 2023. In 2024, he bowled just 15 in that phase across 10 games.
You see batters shift from top to middle-order or vice versa all the time. Bowlers develop newer skills, and their adaptability is shown when they switch formats.
But how did this 30-year-old who used to bowl three overs in the powerplay and one or two overs elsewhere, become a three-overs-in-death specialist?
A slow-churning revelation
This transformation came to light two years ago, after he went unsold in the 2023 auction, which was, at the time, one of the biggest bombshells even by the standards of IPL auctions.
"It was tough for me, obviously," Sandeep says. "I remember I went to the gym half an hour after [the auction] to train. Because that was the only thing I thought was best to get rid of the frustration! ... At that time, Sanju called me and spoke to me, all positive things: 'I'm pretty sure, I know your skills, you will be there, and I know if you come to Rajasthan, you'll be a main, crucial bowler.' He spoke very positively. Even though I was not in IPL and didn't know if RR would offer me a contract or not. But still, he was very positive about it."
As luck would have it, Prasidh Krishna got injured and RR called Sandeep up. But Prasidh was a middle and death overs bowler and RR already had an overflow of powerplay bowlers in Trent Boult, Jason Holder, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
The team especially didn't have anyone to replicate Prasidh's impact at the death in partnering with Boult. So, that automatically became Sandeep's new job.
It was also Samson's call to trust him with the old ball and that the skipper was in constant touch with him before he got into RR, slowly building his confidence. When the season began, and Sandeep made his debut in RR's third game, their chats continued across many dinners and practice sessions.
"One is with words and the other [kind of trust] is with decisions," Sandeep says. "In the last two years, he gave me the crucial overs whenever the game was at stake. So, I could see how much he trusted me in those crucial situations. It was a confidence booster for me as well. I thought if my captain was showing such trust in me, I should go out there and give my 100%."
"The trust and faith that Sanju showed in the last two years in crucial moments, in death overs, no one else did that throughout my career. That's how much he trusted me," he adds.
The biggest show of faith came when Sandeep was chosen to bowl the last over against MS Dhoni, with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) needing 21 runs to win in IPL 2023. What Klaasen is now, Dhoni was to Sandeep's generation.
Sandeep's inexperience showed when he bowled two wides upfront and then conceded two sixes in the next three balls off attempted yorkers. However, skill broke through with a brilliant length ball, a yorker, and an even better yorker to prevent Dhoni from an internet-breaking six off the last ball. And it was all calm.
"You can call it a turning point," he says. "Sanju gave me a very crucial over where the match was on stake. So if there is a turning point for me in the last two years for bowling well in death and a confidence booster then I will keep that match at the top. That match completely changed my mindset and confidence towards death bowling."
Sandeep insists that his emergence as an excellent death bowler might seem new and sudden but it wasn't an overnight or even an over-two-season change. Like Rahul's wicket, the past context and future trajectory matter.
The foundation was laid as early as 2015, his third year in the IPL, when most in the country still knew him for his exploits in the Under-19 World Cup.
"At that time, Viru paaji (Virender Sehwag) mentored me and suggested that I would have to do well in death overs too if I had to survive in the coming years, because, otherwise, one-dimensional bowlers get found out very quickly," he explains.
However, till then, he had already taken he took 18 wickets in KXIP's charge to the 2014 final and had been curiously left out against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
He was also selected for a couple of India 'A' tours but missed out due to a stress fracture. In 2015, he finally got the India call-up for a T20I series against Zimbabwe where he took one wicket in two games which were considered a big enough sample size to never give him a game for the national side again.
In 2016 and 2017, the last two years of his first KXIP stint, Sehwag's advice came through and he bowled more at the death, earning 12 wickets at 20.92 in the last five overs. When SRH signed him in 2018, his new ball exposure was reduced further as the best-in-class Bhuvneshwar Kumar was working it for them already.
"So, here at SRH, I was bowling in the middle as well. Sometimes I was bowling in the first over or the second over. But in four years (2018-2021) I bowled in all 20 overs of the game," Sandeep says. "It gave me confidence that I can bowl in any over. Before that, I always used to think how to bowl the 10th or 11th over because I had never bowled those even in domestic matches."
When he came to RR, the skills were there on the platter. Apart from Samson, he just needed a helping hand to make him feel that he belonged and was not just a replacement player, which he found in the team's director, Kumar Sangakkara.
"I always tell him that he always comes up with the right words," Sandeep states. "Like if someone hasn't done well, he will speak in a way that you'd feel that better words can't be said. I feel that is his biggest strength. And as a player, if I am in a bad situation, and a person can come and says good word to lift me, there is nothing greater than that. Because in a tournament like IPL, there is very less coaching and more man management."
Freedom is paramount too. Despite RR being a data-savvy team, they back their bowlers to take wickets using their experience and only recommend using the analysis when something needs fixing, which is perfect for Sandeep.
I didn't get recognition according to my performance: Sandeep Sharma
After it was confirmed that Sandeep didn't find a team in the IPL 2023 auction, renowned writer Jarrod Kimber tried to analyze why in a Substack post. Kimber verified that Sandeep's numbers were legendary, found reasons for his recent dip in wickets, saw that he wasn't too old either, and then came to a conclusion:
"But the main problem with him as a bowler is his incredible unsexiness. He’s pretty comfortably medium fast and short. If there is a seamer that India is known to create a lot it is the undersized, not too quick skilful bowler. Chances are they just thought that they would be finding another bowler like him."
For a minute, ignore the irony that when Impact Player started to show its wrath in IPL 2024, it was the unsexy bowlers like Sandeep, Harshal Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy and Tushar Deshpande who came through. Instead, focus on the impact that this obsession with extra pace and height had on Sandeep.
When he broke through the Under-19 level, his average speed was around 125-128kph, which increased to 135kph when he played for India. But, soon after, a shoulder injury that required surgery changed the trajectory of his career.
"I won't say just bowlers, but any player or athlete always runs after something that he doesn't have, to be very honest... And it's like you never know if I didn't have shoulder surgery and I had just joined the Indian team circuit, if I had continued to be in the Indian team for a few months and had been in a good circuit, had been in good training, so you never know, I would have touch 138-140 kmh. I personally don't think about what did not happen... I don't regret it. But yes, obviously, those who are bowling at 145-150 kph, they are different."
Being at SRH around the time that he was discovering ways to be effective with a 10kph lesser pace helped him. For, in Bhuvneshwar, he found the ideal inspiration to burnish his yorkers, slower ones, and knuckleballs to re-invent himself.
"I give his example to a lot of [L-bomb] bowlers like me," Sandeep says. "I played with him for four years. We used to talk a lot about cricket. He is a very strong character mentally... From a new ball bowler to a death bowler... I have seen him putting in the work and practicing. He used to practice a lot. He will be the one I'll pick as my idol. I believed that if this guy can improve his death bowling so much, I can too."
He says he was also "lucky" to find the pair of Bharat Arun and R Sridhar, who would later be the senior men's team's bowling and fielding coaches, respectively, during his regular visits to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
They made him believe that speed and height weren't everything and assured him that he belonged and that there were people in every IPL franchise who looked beyond the messy PR of the sexy to see what worked.
Sandeep credits those unnamed people for allowing him a 12-years-long-and-counting career in the IPL. But doesn't hide his dismay at the rest, either.
"I personally get disappointed that yes, according to my performance, I didn't get recognition," he says. "No matter what. I feel, this game is about performance. As a bowler or as a bowling unit, you only have to give one run less to the other team, right? No matter what you are doing, what you are bowling, if you are able to do that, then you are a good bowler. According to that, I feel that the recognition that was supposed to be there, was not there, that is for sure. But again, as you said that I don't bowl 145, 150, don't have six-feet plus height, so all those things, I felt over the years that they went against me."
History would probably be kinder to him, given he's already the third-highest wicket-taker in powerplay in IPL, only behind Boult (62) and Bhuvneshwar (72). He's also three years younger than the latter so there's a lot more cricket to come.
A quiet zeal for India
Not many players in the IPL can boast about extensively representing more than two franchises over a decade and not failing at even one of them. Because this trajectory has been linear and upwards, Sandeep finds it hard to pick a favorite.
"Coming out of your comfort zone is very important," he says. "The franchises that over the years took me out of my comfort zone, grew me as a bowler and as a personality too. I'm pretty sure that all the people who play for 10 years change and grow a lot as human beings. Because you meet people of quality from around the world and from India, and you have conversations, you learn a lot. This overall 12-year journey with all three teams has grown me a lot. I have never felt that I am having a bad time in any team. I am a very grateful person and I always felt that I am having a good time."
He's quite happy at RR too. The team had a streak of losses in the second half of IPL 2024 and only just about got through the Eliminator.
Sandeep feels that it was just bad luck that their lean phase came at the worst possible time and some capped cricketers let the team down with their form. However, he's confident that the young core group, who stood up in difficult games this time, has a "lot of potential" and would win RR the elusive second title soon.
He's enjoying the off-season training at home. He's a family man now, having recently been blessed with a second daughter.
He's taking in all he can from the "different experiences" of parenthood, including sleepless nights and regular advice from his mother and mother-in-law about making memories with the kids before they grow up and stop giving him time.
He says the family has matured with his career too. They have understood when he needs to be left alone and how to help him deal with the ups and downs.
As he continues to overcome the burden of aesthetics to try and become harder and harder to ignore, the murmurs of an India comeback have returned. There were some for the T20 World Cup and more for the ongoing Zimbabwe tour.
It won't be easy, even Bhuvneshwar would need an all-timer IPL season to be considered again because being 30-plus comes with a weight of its own in Indian cricket. But who says Sandeep wants it to be easy?
"That zeal is there and that fire has always been there. It should be in the mind of every cricketer till he's playing that he has to play for India," Sandeep says. "Obviously, there was an expectation [for selection]. Like I did well in IPL, there are many bowlers who did well... somebody like Harshal Patel, who won the Purple Cap, or Harshit Rana and there were a lot more. I'm pretty sure, they must be expecting it too."
"But, that is the beauty of our country. There is so much talent, so much skill. Who to select, who to not, as a selector, it's a tough job. So, I would say that whatever happened, it's good... But obviously, as a cricketer, I should expect. That's the fun part. And I'll keep expecting and I'll keep working harder towards it. Maybe next year it'll be better, you never know," he concludes.