Ashutosh, Shashank, Vignesh are no Jadeja, Bumrah, Pandya but remind there’s more to IPL than just Kohli, Rohit, Dhoni
Shane Warne was the ultimate showman. He was also the wiliest, canniest captain never to lead Australia in a Test match.
Just how outstanding a leader he was became obvious during Season 1 of the Indian Premier League when he masterminded a spectacular coup by the most underwhelming of the eight franchises. No one had given Rajasthan Royals a ghost of a chance of battling for even mid-table honours, given their reluctance to loosen their purse strings and the presence of a plethora of unknown, untested Indian players.
And yet, Warne somehow got the parts to lift themselves and conjure a gathering whole that swept all before it. He roused the Goan Cannon (Swapnil Asnodkar) and the Rockstar (Ravindra Jadeja) in 2008, and The Tornado (Kamran Khan) the following year, to lift their games. He made them feel like they belonged at that level.
Asnodkar and Kamran fell by the wayside, but Jadeja used the IPL as a springboard to greater success. We are talking Ravindra Jadeja of 2008, not the polished, celebrated all-round champion of 2025. He is perhaps the first and most abiding success story of the IPL, though in time to come, he would be joined by the likes of R Ashwin (following his exploits for Chennai Super Kings in 2010), Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah – both picked practically on promise and potential for the white-ball tour of Australia in 2016.
Today, given how much international cricket the Indians play and given how massive the demand is for their services, often two units do battle in different formats in different parts of the world. Perhaps, it is a little easier now to grab the eyeballs with a season of consistent brilliance than when Jadeja and Ashwin, Bumrah and Pandya broke through. The IPL’s USP is offering talent the opportunity to become instantaneously visible, to highlight their performances watched by thousands at the ground and millions on television, to provide them with the stage from which to make thunderous, attention-catching statements.
Every year, relative unknowns will step up and shake our consciousness. Touch us with their exploits, remind us that there is more to the tournament than just the Kohlis and the Rohits and the Dhonis, the Suryakumars and the Shreyases and the Bumrahs. They may not do so on a consistent basis – they won’t remain unknowns for long then, would they? – but when it’s their night, they eclipse the incandescence of the floodlights. They become ‘marked’ men, in a manner of speaking. ‘Marked’ in a good way.
The Ashutosh, Shashank and Puthur show
Like Ashutosh Sharma. Monday night’s manic dismantling of the Lucknow Super Giants bowling wasn’t a one-off. The 26-year-old from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh had served notice of his fearless, unabashed ball-striking last season for Punjab Kings, which boosted his price tag for Season 18 to ₹3.8 crore. In just one innings, he has already justified Delhi Capitals’ faith, going from 20 off 20 deliveries to 66 not out off 31, single-handedly resurrecting a flagging chase and muscling his team to a jaw-dropping one-wicket heist. He was the first Impact Sub this season to make a stunning impact.
Vyshak Vijaykumar, the Karnataka medium-pacer, followed suit during Punjab Kings’ victory over Gujarat Titans on Tuesday but hey, cricket has always been a batter’s game, so why bother about a medium-paced Impact sub who was only introduced in the 35th over of the match with the Titans needing 75 off 36, and ended up conceding just 10 runs from his first two overs?
Ashutosh’s partner-in-crime during many a Punjab coup last season was Shashank Singh, a ripe 33. Between them, these two right-handers rained sixes, winning matches they had no business doing so. Perhaps inspired by his mate’s heroics, Shashank lit up the first half of Tuesday’s encounter, smashing 44 off 16, including five fours from the last over from Mohammed Siraj. He took his captain Shreyas Iyer’s words to heart, not bothering to give the boss the strike even though the skipper was just three short of his maiden IPL century. Those 23 runs in the last over proved decisive as Punjab squeaked home by 11 runs.
If Shashank and Ashutosh aren’t entirely unknown commodities, Vignesh Puthur sure is. Or at least he was, until a couple of nights back. In true Mumbai Indians fashion, the five-time champions unleashed this wispy lad on Chennai Super Kings. Firing another salvo for the left-arm wrist-spinner after CSK’s Noor Ahmad had taken four wickets earlier in the evening, the Kerala lad picked up three wickets and threatened a dramatic MI win which wasn’t to be. One of the lasting images of the night was an indulgent Dhoni engaging the 24-year-old in an endearing private chat in full public view. A terrific shot for the underdog, you say? Watch out for a few more, we offer.
