MATCH STORY
Follow Us“Thank you sir for reminding me that I’m getting older day by day” - Mohit Sharma was almost certain that Ravi Shastri would remind him of his age during the post-match presentation ceremony. The right-arm seamer is 35. There are not too many fast bowlers of this age playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
Just four to be exact. But none of the other three are as crucial to their respective sides as Mohit is to Gujarat Titans. His teammate Umesh Yadav is 36 and is known for his new-ball bowling, but hasn’t taken a single wicket in the powerplay since 2023. Ishant Sharma has been decent for Delhi Capitals, however, has also missed quite a few games. And we all know how on and off Andre Russell is with the ball.
Then there is Mohit, who has played every single game since making his debut for Gujarat last season. And boy has he performed beyond everyone’s expectations. 33 wickets @ 13.8 and an economy rate of 8.1 - those are very impressive numbers for someone who has bowled almost 50 percent of his overs at death. That’s right, Mohit has been GT’s death bowler and the right-arm seamer has played his role to perfection.
Mohit was a revelation for GT in the last edition, finishing as the second-highest wicket-taker (27 wickets) despite playing three games fewer than Mohammed Shami (28). But when it comes to death overs, Mohit has taken the joint-most number of wickets (19) while going at an economy of 8.5. Amongst bowlers who have bowled at least 10 overs in the last phase, Mohit (8.3) has the second-best strike rate.
What makes him special is the number of variations he has at his disposal. Mohit has bucket loads of experience and he uses it to his advantage. He keeps changing up his pace and hardly goes full in the last five overs. Every now and then he will hit the length hard and keep the batters guessing. So, when he outfoxed Sunrisers Hyderabad’s fearsome batting unit on March 31 (Sunday) in Ahmedabad, it didn’t surprise anyone.
Yes, this was the same batting unit that clobbered 277 runs in their last game against Mumbai Indians. Mohit was introduced into the attack in the 10th over, with SRH on 69/2. Travis Head was back into the hut after slamming 19 off 14 but Abhishek Sharma was in some hitting form. The surface was slightly on the slower side but the left-hander was batting on 27 off 17.
Mohit straightaway started with a slower delivery and finished the over with the same, also getting the wicket of Abhishek along the way. A cutter on length and the batter chipped it straight to the fielder at cover. Mohit only conceded seven runs in his second over while bowling to Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram.
GT skipper Shubman Gill held his two overs back and brought him to bowl the 18th and 20th. Abdul Samad managed to hit a low full-toss for a maximum and got 11 runs off his penultimate over. Mohit, however, made an astonishing comeback in the final over, giving away just three runs and taking the wickets of Shahbaz Ahmed and Washington Sundar.
He got both of them caught at deep, outsmarting Shahbaz with a back-of-a-hand delivery. Mohit has 16 wickets in the IPL with those back-of-a-hand deliveries, easily the most by any bowler. Chetan Sakariya, Nathan Ellis and S Sreesanth are together second on the list, but with just five wickets to their names. Mohit knows when and how to use his variations.
“Practice is normal but the important thing is how to use the variation according to the game situation. Bowlers do have variations but it matters when and how to use it. It’s important when you have two balls in mind, the batters are also ready. They are ready for the slower bouncer but they are not ready for the slower short ball wide of the wicket, so I mix and match,” said Mohit after being named Player of the Match.
Mohit (3/25) was the only GT bowler to concede less than eight runs per over and that played a huge part in restricting SRH to 162. The Titans won the match in the final over but got there with seven wickets remaining.
Talking about Mohit’s contributions, Gill said: “He's such an experienced player, especially on wickets like these. He comes in day in and day out, he practises his skills. He's so skilled. It's not easy in this heat to bowl four overs back-to-back, sometimes three overs back-to-back. But he comes in, bowls those yorkers, slower ones and mixes it so well. The credit has to go to him for practising those skills and to be able to have the confidence to execute them in the match.”
When it comes to fast bowlers, 35 is an age for retirement. Normally, you would see them retired and chilling at home, or doing commentary, or playing those Legends leagues, or coaching, or being involved in non-cricketing activities. Howbeit, Mohit is different. At 35, he is leading the pace attack of an IPL franchise in the absence of their premier paceman.
Mohit Sharma is making 35 look sexy.
Mohit Sharma is making slower deliveries look sexy.
