The star performer of the past is back again
When his chance came, Mohit Sharma made sure he was prepared to seize it by working diligently in the background.
The IPL 2023 has a retro feel to it. MS Dhoni is hitting the ball with a strike rate of over 200. The world is being reminded by Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, and Karn Sharma who are taking wickets that no team is complete without a pudgy legspinner.
Mohali had another vintage night on Thursday. In a thrilling last over, one of Gujarat Titans’ young quicks, Yash Dayal, had just suffered a shocking defeat in which he had been struck for five straight sixes. For this match against Punjab Kings, they removed Dayal from the firing line in favour of a 34-year-old player, whose last regular season in the IPL was in 2018. In 2019 and 2020, he played one game each, and since then, nothing.
Sharma Mohit. 2014 Purple Cap winner. 2015 World Cup semifinalist. He had been absent from our TV screens for many years, but he was finally back.
From a distance, he appeared to be the same bowler he has always been because he was back. He was performing the same tasks as before, and he was doing them successfully.
The ground at Mohali was unique for this game; Titans captain Hardik Pandya said it was hard and the new ball came onto the bat nicely, but it was so firm that the ball rapidly became rough and soft. As a result, the ball was in the perfect form to behave a little unpredictable off the pitch by the time Mohit entered the game, in the 11th over of Punjab’s innings.
Mohit excels at enhancing this kind of surprise. He strikes an odd, bail-trimming length that is neither short enough to pull nor long enough to drive on the up. And he has always been skilled at reaching that length while switching between his variations – on pace, delivered either as an offcutter or out of the back of the hand, or off pace, delivered with the upright seam or scrambling.
His comeback was the epitome of practicality. Mohit was touring the IPL with Titans as a net bowler at this time last year. When Titans coach Ashish Nehra offered Mohit the position of net bowler after the auction, he leapt at the chance to practise and improve his bowling.
Mohit may be quite difficult to hit when the surface is a little bit two-paced or when he is using an old ball that has become a little soft.
Punjab realised this on Thursday, but it came to them gradually rather than all at once. It happened over a series of dot balls and half-time singles to deep fielders. By the time he was done, their innings had become stagnant and stifled, with statistics of 4-0-18-2 next to his name.
With the ball’s little straightening from that in-between length to brush the outside edge of an attempted back-foot punch, Mohit dismissed Jitesh Sharma in his opening over.
“You need competitive practise if you want to improve your cricket in any way. What am I going to do while I’m at home, I thought? I kept myself active in cricket when I was here and practising for competitions; I believe it was a terrific period for me.
Mohit’s most well-known party trick, the slower ball from the back of the hand. This ball, a dipping topspinner that magically emerges with the seam upright, is what first made Mohit famous. Because he was largely bowling to left-handed batters on this particular day and intended to deploy the variation that deviates away from them, he shelved the more remarkable variation than his offcutter for the majority of his spell.
Mohit is another example of the astute, practical cricketer.
His comeback was the epitome of practicality. Mohit was touring the IPL with Titans as a net bowler at this time last year. Mohit had failed to find a buyer at the auction, so when Titans coach Ashish Nehra offered him the position of net-bowler, he leaped at the chance to practise and improve his bowling.
In an interview with Star Sports between innings, Mohit remarked, “I had a back surgery, and a lot of people weren’t sure if I had played enough domestic cricket [to be signed at the auction.” “I received a call from Ashu bhai telling me that I should be with the squad and that I would have a chance if someone got hurt.
Mohit didn’t recognise the disadvantages of being a net bowler, despite what you might believe given his stature and level of expertise in cricket.
Being a net bowler isn’t a terrible thing, he remarked. “Your cricket won’t advance if you don’t engage in competitive practice.” “You get very good exposure and get to play with good players.”
Sharma Mohit. For years and years, he had all but vanished from our TV screens, but he had never truly vanished. He had worked diligently in the background to ensure that he was prepared to seize the opportunity when it presented itself.