Senior Indian speedster Ishant Sharma was on Tuesday picked by Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) for the 10th Indian Premier League (IPL), a massive boost to his Twenty20 career after the setback of going unsold in the players’ auction. Currently, India’s senior-most pacer in the Test squad (77 matches), Ishant went unsold at the IPL Players’ auction in February where his base price was a whopping Rs 2 crore.
His name came up twice but none of the eight franchises picked him, mainly due to his high base price. However, it is understood that Kings XI Punjab, whose pace attack needs a bit of experience, got Ishant on board. Over the years, Ishant has played for a number of franchises starting from Kolkata Knight Riders, Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rising Pune Supergiants. The 28-year-old has 88 wickets from the 107 Twenty20 matches he has played and has an economy rate of 7.75 with best bowling figures of 5 for 12.
Meanwhile, high on confidence after a commendable run in international cricket, Wriddhiman Saha is now gearing up for a productive Indian Premier League (IPL) with “priceless inputs” from Kings XI Punjab‘s chief of cricket operations Virender Sehwag. “I am hopeful that with Viru bhai’s inputs, I will have a much better season than the last time.
He has obviously helped me a lot from the time I entered the Indian team’s dressing room. I have tried to inculcate the positive intent while batting across formats,” Wriddhiman told PTI during an interaction on Tuesday.
Asked if he has got any specific input from Sehwag, Wridhdiman said: “Viru bhai tells me that my job is to rotate the strike. His primary advice has always been that avoid playing dot balls after big shots as it breaks the momentum in T20s. He tells me that if I have the belief, I should be able to hit good balls for big shots.”
