Ashutosh Sharma was standing near the fine-leg boundary at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi on Tuesday afternoon, when Railways’ video analyst told him rather loudly, “ Tune toh record tod diya hai…”
As a puzzled Ashutosh asked the analyst which record he broken, pat came the reply: “ Arrey, Yuvraj Singh ka…”
It took the young all-rounder a while to come to terms with the fact that he had indeed broken Yuvraj Singh’s record of the fastest fifty by an Indian. The Ratlam-born and Indore-raised Ashutosh hammered his fifty off just 11 balls against Arunachal Pradesh in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group C clash. And with that, he surpassed Yuvraj’s 16-year-old record of striking a fifty off just 12 balls, set against England in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007.
Ashutosh was just nine years old when Yuvraj hit six sixes in an over off Stuart Broad in Durban to set a new record but remembers watching that iconic game on television. But the 25-year-old, who considers Ben Stokes as his idol, never imagined that he would break Yuvraj’s record one day.
READ | SMAT2023: Ashutosh Sharma hits fastest T20 fifty by an Indian
Moving to Indore at the age of eight, Asutosh joined the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association’s residential academy, which was then run by former India international, Amay Khurasiya. While he had steady progress at the age-group level, Ashutosh made his T20 debut way back in 2018 for Madhya Pradesh but last played the format in 2019. In that year, he featured in just one 50-over game, after which, he wasn’t really in the scheme of things.
“I waited for three years and last year, I decided to join the Railways. I scored three 50-plus scores in the 2019 edition of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for MP, but even then, I was not considered thereon. So, I had to take the tough decision,” Ashutosh told Sportstar.
In the 2019 edition of SMAT, Ashutosh scored 58 against Mizoram, followed by a 60 against Meghalaya and an 84 against Puducherry.
“I was away from the game for about three years, so getting back into the groove was a challenge. But I practised a lot in the nets, hit a lot of sixes and that preparation really helped,” he said.
Ashutosh walked out to bat when Railways was at 131 for four with just five overs remaining. He then smashed 53 off 12 - crafting his innings with eight sixes and a solitary four.
“When I took the crease, we did not have huge runs on the board because wicket pe ball phas ke aa raha tha (the ball was holding into the pitch). I took a single off the first ball and then realised that I should go big against the left-arm spinner, and I hit him for a few sixes, and in the next over, I hit a few more sixes off the fast bowler as well. I am happy to contribute to my team’s success,” he said.
As a kid growing up in Ratlam, Ashutosh admired local boy Naman Ojha, who went on to play for India, and helped Ashutosh in his journey.
“As a kid, I would watch Naman bhai play a lot, and that’s how I fell in love with the sport. I made my T20 debut for MP under Naman bhai’s captaincy, and I owe him a lot for all the support,” Ashutosh said.
While his father is a compounder at a local government hospital, his elder brother Anil is the one who has always encouraged Ashutosh to pursue the sport. Even after creating history, nobody in the family knew of his record until he called them up to give the ‘ khush khabri’.
“I called them up and told them about it. They were obviously very happy. I am the only cricketer in the family, so when it comes to all this, they don’t keep a tab,” he said with a smile. “ Main hi phone karke batata hoon…”
Though the opponent was relatively weak, Khurasiya - who played a key role in Ashutosh’s journey - believes that this will attract quite a few IPL franchises. “It’s not easy to score a fifty in 11 balls. Nobody bowls full-toss to you no matter who the opponent is, so it’s an incredibly good effort, and a few more good innings might open a lot of doors for him,” Khurasiya said.
Having known him since the age of 11, Khurasiya remembers Ashutosh as an ‘opening batter’, who could bowl a bit of medium fast and was also a wicketkeeper.
“He is a perfect fit as an opener or as a No. 3. He started his career as a wicketkeeper-batter, and I am quite surprised to see him batting so low down the order. He is a good boy, who’s always willing to learn,” Khurasiya said.
“He loves playing horizontal shots, those pulls… he’s got great height (6’1”) and has all the abilities to become a match-winner…”
The last three years were an eye-opener for Ashutosh, and after seeing the ups and downs rather early in his career, he is happy to start his ‘new chapter’ on a promising note.
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