Kings XI Punjab batsman Ashutosh Sharma smashed a sensational 28-ball 61 in the IPL 2024 match against Mumbai Indians on Thursday, but it ended in failure. A valiant effort from the 25-year-old, who has shown his talent in this year’s tournament, his knock put PBKS very close to victory despite losing four wickets early on. His knock included 2 fours and 7 sixes at a strike rate of 217.86, which took his tournament score to 156 runs in 4 games. This is not the first time he has played an explosive knock as his brilliant partnership with Shashank Singh completed a brilliant win against the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024.

It’s a big moment for a cricketer who went through a tough phase of his life between 2020 and 2022 when he had no idea where his career was going. “There was a time when I was not even allowed to touch the cricket field,” Ashutosh revealed during that time.

The youngster allegedly got into an argument with then Madhya Pradesh head coach Chandrakant Pandit.

“I would go to the gym and then go back to the hotel room. I fell into depression and no one told me what my fault was. A new coach joined Madhya Pradesh and he had strong likes and dislikes, although in 45 games After scoring 90-plus points in one of the qualifiers, I was dismissed,” said Ashutosh.

“Last season, I hit three fifties in six games against Mushtaq Ali but I wasn’t even allowed to play. I was very frustrated,” the 25-year-old told reporters.

A Railways job offer became his savior during that period and during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023, the batsman equaled Yuvraj Singh’s most half-century Fast T20 score record when he smashed 50 runs in just 11 deliveries against Arunachal Pradesh. state.

It was this knock that brought him to the attention of Kings XI Punjab batting coach Sanjay Bangar and he was picked up by Kings XI Punjab for a base price of Rs 20 lakh in the pre-IPL 2024 auction.