Awe-inspiring Ashutosh brings DC back from the brink

By Sidharth Monga, Mar 25 (EspnCricinfo): Faf du Plessis doesn't feel awe easily. He has seen cricket all over the world, in all kinds of formats, for all kinds of teams. At 40, he is more used to leaving people in awe of his shredded body and ability to slug it out with the best of T20 players. But even his "old brain" was left in awe of Ashutosh Sharma's hitting on a pitch that was not easy to bat on.

Unprompted, du Plessis made it a point to mention during a sideline interview: "Just as an overseas player, one thing that's remarkable for me to watch is the amount of Indian players that are so powerful and they've got the ability to just strike the ball so easy. You know, it wasn't an easy pitch [to bat on]. There was a lot going on, but the two boys at the back end there, just the way they came in and just effortlessly hit boundaries. Unbelievable."

There will be another day for Vipraj Nigam, this night belonged to the "other boy", Ashutosh. The Railways batter had a bittersweet season with Punjab Kings (PBKS) last year. He faced only 103 balls for 189 runs to regularly bring PBKS back from the brink, but kept either falling just short or not seeing the chase through himself.

As he got his new team, Delhi Capitals (DC), closer and closer against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Monday night, you wondered if those memories played on his mind. Of the time he took Kings from 150 for 6 to the threshold of the target of 200 set by Gujarat Titans, brought it down to the inexperienced Darshan Nalkande in the last over, but holed out to long-on and watched the victory from the dugout. Or the time his daring comeback ended two short of Sunrisers Hyderabad's 182. Or, indeed, his 61 off 28 against Mumbai Indians from 77 for 6, when he fell in the 18th over and had to watch an agonising defeat.

That last year might or might not have played in his head during this chase, but it did between the two seasons. "I learnt a lot from the last year," Ashutosh said. "Last year I brought the team close in two or three matches but left the job unfinished in the end. The whole year I focused on that. I visualised how I am finishing matches. Even in domestic cricket, I focused on finishing games. That's why I was able to finish on such a big stage.

"I have a lot of belief in myself. That if I play till the last ball, anything can happen. Stay calm. Bring it down to a few balls. Stay clear with what shot you can play. Play only those shots you have practised in the nets."

That belief was perhaps best apparent in the way he tried to steal a single when Kuldeep Yadav was on strike. There was this inherent belief that only he was the man to do it, and he charged his runs perfectly: not before the ball left the bowler's hand, but he was halfway up the pitch by the time the ball reached Kuldeep. One such dash even cost them a wicket (of Kuldeep), but that didn't faze Ashutosh. If the bowler was going to err, Ashutosh was going to send the ball out of the ground.

The hitting was so clean he barely looked up, let alone run, just in case the ball doesn't go past the boundary. As du Plessis said, this was not a flat deck by any means. Sample the ball that got Tristan Stubbs out, drifting into the leg, turning to hit the pad and then the wicket. Or indeed the one in the last over that nearly spun past No. 11 Mohit Sharma and also dragged him out of his crease. A deflection off the pad saved him from getting stumped and gave Ashutosh another shot at a first successful heist in the IPL.

During those two balls at the non-striker's end, Ashutosh displayed the remarkable quality you need in cricket: care like hell but play like you couldn't care less. "I was confident," Ashutosh said of the time spent at the non-striker's in the last over. "It is part of the game, but it was not part of my batting. I was very normal. 'If he will take a single, I will hit a six'."

Hit a six he did. Sometimes you just need that bit of extra luck to push you over the line, but there is no substitute for bringing yourself into that situation again and again.