"I left the trial of the other team"- Ashutosh Sharma opens up on how he was destined to play for PBKS in IPL 2024

Punjab Kings (PBKS) batter Ashutosh Sharma played a massive role in his team's thrilling three-wicket win over the Gujarat Titans (GT) in his maiden IPL appearance on Thursday, April 4.

Ashutosh smashed 31 runs off just 17 balls as the Kings chased down a daunting 200-run target with a ball to spare in Ahmedabad. IPL has become a massive stage for such young uncapped potential gems to showcase their talent and Ashutosh ensured his supporting act alongside Shashank Singh (61* off 29) was enough to see his team home.

Speaking alongside Shashank Singh after the game in a video posted by the IPL on social media, Ashutosh Sharma explained how he ended up playing for PBKS:

"I had a pretty good trial. I was about to go for another trial but was told to wait for another day. I thought let's wait and see maybe they told me to wait because they liked what they saw. So I left the trial of the other team and today I am with the Punjab Kings."

Ashutosh has a reputation of being an explosive batter, with a career strike rate of a mind-boggling 196.50 in T20 cricket. After letting Shahrukh Khan go, Punjab will be thrilled to have found Ashutosh as a potential like-for-like replacement.

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Ashutosh Sharma on Sanjay Bangar's advice

Ashutosh Sharma also opened up on how the confidence given by PBKS' head of cricket development, Sanjay Bangar, helped him become a better version of himself. Bangar made the youngster believe that he had more in his game than just being called a dasher who hit lusty blows down the order.

"I got a lot of confidence from Shikhar (Dhawan) Paaji and Sanjay sir right from the camp days. Everyone used to consider me a slogger, but Sanjay sir once told me, 'You aren't just a slogger. You play some extraordinary cricketing shots and you should focus on that.' That small statement gave me a lot of confidence and then I also scored a hundred on my Ranji Trophy debut," Ashutosh said.

There's no clarity yet on how long Liam Livingstone is going to be out of action for the Kings. This makes finds like Shashank Singh and Ashutosh even more crucial for their chances in IPL 2024.