Who is Suryansh Shedge, the young batter who replaced Jaydev Unadkat in LSG’s IPL 2023 squad?
Suryansh Shedge was named on Thursday as an injury replacement for fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat in the Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) squad for the remainder of the IPL 2023. Suryansh will join the RPSG-owned franchise for INR 20 lakh, as mentioned in the official release by the IPL.
Suryansh Shegde is an uncapped Mumbai cricketer who plays as an all-rounder. He bats right-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace.
Suryansh, 20, was part of Mumbai's 17-member Ranji Trophy squad for the recent 2022–23 season. He was also named as the replacement for Shardul Thakur in Mumbai's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad as the latter left to join India in the T20 World Cup in Australia as a reserved player. However, Suryansh Shedge didn't get a chance to play for the senior Mumbai side in either of the formats.
During the BCCI Men’s U25 State A Trophy 2022 held in December last year, Suryansh made 184 runs in eight matches, including two half-centuries, and accounted for 12 dismissals with the ball for the Mumbai U25 side.
At the age of 13, Suryansh Shedge slammed 326 runs in 137 balls for his school, Gundesha Education Academy (Kandivali), against SPSS Mumbadevi Niketan (Borivali) in a Giles Shield (Mumbai U14 school tournament) match seven years ago.
"Suryansh Shedge is Mumbai's future" - Rajesh Pawar
According to the statistics from Cricket Graph, Suryansh Shedge scored 3502 runs in 58 matches with the help of 21 fifties and 11 hundreds across formats in Mumbai's local tournaments between March 2016 and April 2017.
Mumbai U-25 head coach Rajesh Pawar believes Suryansh is a match-winner and the future of Mumbai cricket in the domestic circuit.
Rajesh Pawar was quoted by Mid-Day:
"Suryansh is equally good in batting and bowling and can win us matches with his contributions. He is Mumbai's future. I will give credit to the selectors for giving him a chance in the Ranji squad at the right time."
Suryansh is the son of Prashant Shedge and Priyadarshini Shedge. Prashant is the group marketing head at Wockhardt Hospitals, while Priyadarshini used to be a banker at HSBC and Citibank. The mother opted to focus on her son Suryansh's cricket training.