NEW DELHI: Former India pacer Sandeep Sharma recalled a memorable incident from the 2017 Indian Premier League, which he described as a 'sweet moment'.
The right-arm pacer, playing for Punjab Kings in one of the final matches of the 2017 season, produced a match-winning performance against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He returned figures of 3/22, helping his team defend a modest 138, with his wickets including the prized scalps of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, and AB de Villiers.
"We were playing a match in Bengaluru against RCB. And I had taken three wickets with the new ball. Virat, ABD and Chris Gayle," Sandeep told CricTracker.
"So in that match, actually, the Player of the Match was supposed to be Axar Patel, who had also taken two wickets in that match and it was a low-scoring game.
"In the last over, he had scored 25 runs (19 runs) and scored 38 runs (in total). But the Player of the Match was his, if you look at it. So Preity ma'am was there and she told Ravi Shastri there that the Player of the Match should be Sandy, he has picked three big wickets.
"And actually, they gave me the Player of the Match. That was one sweet thing. And I actually went and offered it to Axar. But, he told me that these three wickets were very important. Otherwise, 138 runs wouldn't have been defended anywhere," he reflected.
Sandeep has played 117 matches in the IPL, where he has picked up 146 wickets while maintaining an economy rate of just over eight runs an over.
Across his IPL journey, he has represented three franchises - Punjab Kings from 2013 to 2017, Sunrisers Hyderabad between 2018 and 2021, and currently Rajasthan Royals since 2023.
