Mullanpur, April 10
Former India opener Aakash Chopra lauded Punjab Kings (PBKS) batters Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma following their marvellous performance against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
All hope seemed to have gone when Punjab required 51 runs in the last three overs, but Shashank-Ashutosh duo smashed 66 runs off just 27 balls to take their team so close to the target.
The heroes for Punjab in the previous game, put up a brave fight again this time against SRH as Shashank hit three boundaries in an over off Bhuvneshwar Kumar and his partner Ashutosh struck back-to-back fours off SRH captain Cummins, giving PBKS hope of victory at their home
"Prabhsimran Singh also got out. Sam Curran played decently for quite a while but when he got out, it seemed like it was done and dusted. Sikandar Raza and Jitesh Sharma played short knocks. However, it still seemed like they were far behind and that it's not going to happen," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
The former cricketer lauded both the batters. He said that they batted incredibly well and both of them have impressed everyone once again.
"I am surprised that they reached so close because it didn't seem like the match could reach till there. Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma batted incredibly well once again and both impressed a lot. Ashutosh Sharma's power is of a different level. It seemed like Shashank Singh played one or two balls less as he hit a six off the last ball as well," the commentator added.
Coming to the match, after losing three wickets in the powerplay, SRH posted 183 thanks to Nitish Reddy's maiden half-century and some crucial runs scored by Abdul Samad and Shahbaz Ahmed.
In the run-chase of 183, PBKS lost wickets frequently and were reduced to 114/6 in 15.3 overs. A remarkable fightback from Shashank Singh (46* in 25 balls, with six fours and a six) and Ashutosh Sharma (33* in 15 balls, with three fours and two sixes) almost sealed a win for Punjab, but they fell short by two runs.