Pacer Sandeep Sharma went back in time to remember a gesture made by Preity Zinta, his former IPL franchise co-owner, during the 2017 IPL that helped him win Player of the Match. Sandeep played five years with the Punjab Kings during his initial stint in the IPL, and his final season there remains his greatest to date. He made his IPL debut with the team in 2013.
In the 2017 edition, he took 17 wickets at an economy of 8.29. He was signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad after being released by the team prior to the 2018 season. He then returned to Punjab for a year in the 2022 IPL.
In a match against RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Sandeep remembered dismissing Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, and Virat Kohli. Axar Patel was first chosen Player of the Match in Punjab's triumph, but the award was later changed to the pacer after a discussion between Ravi Shastri and the team's co-owner Preity Zinta.
"We were playing a match in Bengaluru against RCB. And I had taken three wickets with the new ball. Virat, ABD and Chris Gayle. 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," he said on Crictracker.
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Sandeep said he gave the prize to Axar, but the left-arm all-rounder emphasized that those wickets were crucial in defending 138 runs, thereby solidifying the seamer's influence in the match.
"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 added.
Prior to the IPL 2025 mega auction, the Rajasthan Royals retained the right-arm bowler. He played in ten games last season and took nine wickets before being sidelined in the middle of the season due to a finger fracture.
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