‘Sanju Samson called me and told me positive words’ - Sandeep Sharma recalls Kerala star’s encouragement after going unsold in IPL auction [Exclusive]

During his career, Sandeep Sharma transitioned from a fast bowler who would bowl mostly inside the powerplay in T20 cricket to someone who could keep opposition batters in check during the death overs. However, this transition wasn't easy as he had to change several things, both mentally and physically.

During an exclusive interview with CricTracker, Sharma looked back at his Indian Premier League (IPL) career, explaining how his bowling approach differed in teams like Kings XI Punjab (Now Punjab Kings), Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Rajasthan Royals.

"I started my IPL journey with Kings XI Punjab. And there, obviously, it was my first opportunity in IPL. If you see that time, first three to five years, I used to bowl mostly with the new ball. Like, I used to bowl three overs in powerplay and after that, one over, sometimes middle over or one over in death. But over the years, I started to grow. And their management had some confidence in me and sometimes I bowled two overs in death. But mostly, I was a new ball bowler. And then I played there for five years. Did really well. And then, in the next auction, I went to SRH in 2018. And there, obviously, we had Bhuvneshwar Kumar who was playing for India. And he was at his peak with the new ball. So, it was very tough for me to get that new ball," Sharma said.

"And we had other bowlers also to bowl with the new ball. Somebody like Nabi, he would start with the new ball. Then we had Shakib, Khaleel. We had good bowling attack. And obviously, if I had to play, I had to improve my skill set. Because, obviously, Bhuvneshwar was at his peak, as I said. So, I started actually developing different variations. Like, I developed that time a knuckle ball. Then a good slower ball. So, that management thought that I can actually bowl in middle overs also. And still with Bhuvneshwar, I can play in the XI. So, the way I improved or evolved from there, it was very important for me," he added.

Sharma said that he was disappointed after not being retained by the Punjab Kings ahead of IPL 2018. He went to Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he got the opportunity to bowl in different phases of the game. The right-arm pacer feels that it helped him develop as a bowler.

"When I didn't go to Punjab in the auction, I felt bad. Because it is my state team. I used to play for Punjab and I did very well for 5 years. And I felt bad that I left from here. But obviously, they don't say that until you go and explore somewhere, you don't understand that it's for your betterment. That it's for your bad. So, I feel it was for my betterment that it happened good for me. That my team changed. And after going there, actually, I evolved as a bowler. At the same time, as a human being. There, for the first time in SRH, I bowled all the overs from 1st over to 20th over. In the next 4 years. So, I bowled 1st over, 2nd over and so on till I bowled 20th over. And that gave me confidence that I can bowl any over in the match. Because in SRH, when I started bowling in middle overs, it was very tough. Because in middle overs, there is no dot ball. When you are bowling in powerplay, you bowl dot balls," Sharma opined.

"Or batsman takes chance to score you runs. And when batsman is taking chance, obviously, you have also chance to get picket. But in middle overs, it is like knocking around 1-1-1. And then taking one chance and hitting a boundary. And the over is of 9th or 10th run. Then I was like, how do I bowl a dot ball in this? And that was the challenge for me. And then I learned that I have two fielders. I have to play around with that. And I have to get that couple of dot balls in middle overs as well to put that pressure. So, that was the growth I saw," he added.

Especially Sanju, he backed me a lot for death bowling: Sandeep Sharma

After joining the Rajasthan Royals in 2023, Sharma improved as a death bowler. He thanked the management and skipper Sanju Samson for showing faith in his abilities as someone who could bowl in the back end of the innings.

"And then 3 years back, I came to Rajasthan Royals. Here, obviously, they backed me more into my death bowling. Especially Sanju, he backed me a lot for death bowling. He said that, 'I always believed that you can be a good death bowler. And you have mind for that, experience for that. You can control your nerves and that is the most important thing when you are bowling in death, that if you can control your nerves, if you can be calm and if you can focus on process rather than results. So, you can be a good death bowler. Or you can bowl decent in last overs,'" Sharma recalled.

"So, he saw that potential and pushed me a lot towards that. And last 3 years, I completely evolved and what I used to do changed completely, which is, again, confidence giving. It boosts my confidence a lot that now I can bowl in any phase of the game. As I said, I used to bowl with new balls. Then middle overs. Now in death overs. So, I have that confidence that if you give me any role, I just have to practise according to that few sessions. And I can go in the game with that confidence that yes, I can be successful in any situation and any conditions. At the same time, any phase of the game. Whether it's power play, middle overs or death overs, I can be successful," he added.

Sharma recalled how Samson called him after he went unsold in the IPL 2023 auction. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter urged him to stay positive. Incidentally, Prasidh Krishna got injured, and Sharma was roped in by the Royals. Since then, he has produced some brilliant performances for the inaugural champions.

"Sanju called me when I went unsold. I still remember that Sanju called me and told me positive words that I think you are going to be in IPL and you will be playing, just don't get disheartened. Keep working harder and keep preparing and I am sure you will be in IPL. Then, unfortunately for Prasidh, he got injured. He was actually already injured and Rajasthan Royals were looking for replacement and he called me. He said that just come to Rajasthan in RR camp and just come for couple of days. We will take some decision and I went there. There was Sangakkara, coach and the management. They saw me couple of times bowling in the nets and they picked me for the season," Sharma stated.