Sandeep Sharma

Sandeep Sharma is a prodigious young talent in the same category of master swing bowlers India has produced in the last few years as Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The right-arm medium-fast bowler from Punjab can bowl both inswingers and outswingers on will. He has had several top cricketers like Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, and AB de Villiers in the IPL.

Sandeep Sharma Along the years

Career

Sandeep Sharma participated in two Under-19 World Cups in 2010 and 2012 where in 2012 he made an important contribution to India's victory by being the leading wicket-taker for the nation. Due to his excellent performance in the Junior World Cup, he got a chance to make his IPL debut for Kings XI Punjab in the 2013 IPL, where he took 8 wickets in just 4 matches in his debut season.

Sandeep Sharma, who made his international debut in 2015, had his career limited to just 2 T20I games and is still looking for a way to make his comeback. Sandeep has been continuously impressing everyone in IPL. At present Sandeep plays for the Rajasthan Royals team.

Domestic career

Sandeep Sharma first shot into the limelight when he was selected for the 2010 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand, however, he came to the party two years later again on the same stage but playing for Unmukt Chand this time. The prodigious Punjab talent having the ability to viciously swing the Kookaburra both ways helped Unmukt Chand's team win the junior world cup in Australia by claiming four wickets in the final against the hosts and finishing as our joint-best bowler with 12 wickets.

Sandeep didn’t rest much on his laurels and carried the momentum into the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy, where he gobbled up the most wickets for Punjab and finished the season as the fifth-highest wicket-taker overall with 42 scalps from 9 matches at 19.41 including three five-fors and one 10-fer. The good form continued in the Vijay Hazare Trophy where he again finished as highest wicket-taker for Punjab with 10 wickets from six matches at 20.60. So far Sandeep has played First-Class matches and took wickets at an impressive average of 26.14.

IPL Career

Riding high on his domestic success, Sandeep earned a contract with the Kings XI Punjab ahead of IPL 2013. It didn’t take much time for Sandeep to become KXIP’s strike bowler as he routinely picked up the wickets upfront. In the 2014 season, Sandeep played 11 matches for his franchise and took an impressive 18 wickets and on several occasions donned the purple cap before it went to Chennai Super Kings’ Mohit Sharma. He picked up 17 wickets in the 2017 edition for KXIP with best bowling figures of 4/20, but he was let go by the franchise.

In 2018, Sandeep was snaffled by the Surisers Hyderabad and so far in the two seasons played, he has taken 24 wickets in 23 matches.

After playing five IPL seasons for Sunrise Hyderabad, Sandeep Sharma was included back by Punjab in the 2022 Mega Auction where he played only 5 matches and took 2 wickets. No team bought him in the 2023 IPL auction, but due to the injury to Prasidh Krishna in the middle of the IPL, Sandeep was included in Rajasthan Royals and since then Sandeep has been associated with the Rajasthan Royals team.

International Career

Sandeep Sharma's international career has been limited to only 2 matches. He played his first international match in T20 format against Zimbabwe in 2015 and Sandeep also played his last match in the same series. Due to not being able to impress at the international level and being plagued with injuries, Sandeep never got a chance at the international level again.

T20I Career

Sandeep Sharma debuted in International cricket against Zimbabwe in 2015 after impressing the selectors while playing for KXIP. However, he failed to take any wickets in the first T20I which India won. In the match that followed, Sandeep managed to take a wicket but the Indian side lost that match. So, he went unnoticed by the selectors and was dropped. Since then Sandeep has been looking to make inroads in the national team but the tough competition has eluded him that spot.

Sandeep Sharma Under-19 Career

Sandeep Sharma participated in two Under-19 World Cup campaigns in 2010 and 2012. In 2010, he took 7 wickets in six matches at an economy of 3.16, while his performance in the 2012 World Cup was excellent where he took 12 wickets in 6 matches at an economy of 3.62 and an average of 15.75 which was the joint most wickets taken by an indian boler in the tournament with Ravikant Singh. In the 2012 final, Sandeep Sharma played an important role in India's victory by sending four Australian players to the pavilion.

Background

Sandeep Singh was born on 18 May 1993 in Patiala, Punjab to Balwinder Sharma and Naina Wati. Legend has it that Singh was a batsman initially as a cricketer but turned to bowling when one of his coaches advised him to do so.

Sandeep got married to his long-time girlfriend Tasha Sathwick in 2018. Tasha is a jewelry designer by profession.