Undervalued Sandeep It was after three weeks into this installment of the IPL, that Kings XI Punjab had the first sighting of home, the real home, the PCA stadium at Mohali. By then they had already completed half their league games, three of them at their adopted home in Indore. Among all their personnel, it would have relieved medium-pacer Sandeep Sharma the most. For, he had been enduring a grim season—he was still picking the odd wicket or two, but was leaking far too many runs—and there could have been no better sight than seeing the ground he has plied most of his cricket. (Results | Fixtures | Points Table) But a few hours before the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Virender Sehwag conveyed him the news that he wouldn’t feature in the playing eleven. Sandeep, the only local medium-pacer from the state, got the message that he had to step up. During the match he chatted with the former India opener, which helped him introspect. "He said my strength was swing, and I should go for swing early on without worrying about runs," Sandeep recollects after his terrific comeback against Delhi Daredevils, wherein he also marked his best bowling figures in IPL (4/20). Maybe, it was the hint of moisture on the surface that prompted his return, or maybe, it was just that Punjab's bowling stocks are wafer-thin. Whatever the reasons be, Sandeep was at his inspired best, maximising the early assistance the surface offered—it was good old-fashioned swing that accounted for Sam Billings—and then sticking to impeccable lengths. When the surface settled in, he dragged his length back a bit, but the line was unfailingly on the corridor, thus probing their technique, and preying on the discipline of Delhi's young batting retinue. As many as 15 off his 26 deliveries were good-length deliveries, 21 off those were pitched outside the off-stump and 14 of them were dot balls. Suffice to say that Delhi Daredevils failed this test, pathetically. He can frame his pitch map in the corner of his drawing room. Later, he emphasised on the familiarity factor. "Being a local here, I know the ball sticks a little in the pitch in 4pm games, and I looked to take advantage of that," he said. There are two more matches in Mohali for Sandeep to further dust up his familiarity with the Mohali pitch. Then whether they are playing here or not, it's time they fully appreciated what he brings to the table. While he can bleed runs at the death—slower balls and yorkers aren't his biggest gifts-he is among the most trusted bowlers in the powerplay. In fact, he has bowled more balls in power play than any other bowler in this edition, managed a creditable economy rate of 6.47, bargained the highest percentage of dot balls and taken six wickets, the joint-highest with Samuel Badree and Mitchell McClenagahan. Also, there hasn't been a more hardworking medium pacer for them than Sandeep, neither a more prolific one (only spinner Piyush Chawla has more wickets than him). That he goes generally unnoticed is perhaps because of his understated demeanour. Lacklustre Daredevils Delhi have endured more heart-breaking defeats, but this surely would have been their most harrowing defeat. You could give Rahul Dravid's batsmen the gratuity of youth, as young batting units are prone to extremes. But this was a collective brain-freeze. Even those who had blazed for them this season, like Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant, suddenly, seemed confused and desolate. Karun Nair, once again, showed he’s woefully out of touch while to expect reardguard every time from Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris is unrealistic. After such a horrendous show, even the usually articulate Rahul Dravid groped for words. "Nothing much to say except the fact that we were pretty disappointing in our execution and our batting just was not up to mark.” They also got the grim reminder that irrespective of how you stack up the roster with out-and-out pacers, you need experienced batsmen to provide the platform in this format. Brief Scores: Delhi Daredevils 67 all out in 17.1 overs (Corey Anderson 18 off 25 balls, Sandeep Sharma 4/20, Axar Patel 2/22, Varun Aaron 2/3) lost to Kings XI Punjab 68/0 in 7.5 overs (Martin Guptill 50 not out) by 10 wickets.
