“Neeraj Chopra of KKR” – Fans erupt after Suyash Sharma’s dream debut for KKR in IPL 2023

Suyash Sharma, a Neeraj Chopra look-alike, shone for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Eden Gardens on Thursday, April 6.

For the uninitiated, Suyash Sharma came in as an impact player for KKR after the first innings. The leg-spinner finished with figures of 3/30 in his four overs. He ended RCB's hope of making a comeback by taking the wickets of Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, and Karn Sharma.

Interestingly, the Delhi-born player is yet to play first-class or List-A matches. He was picked purely based on his talent by scouts, which paid dividends. The 19-year-old will now look to build on this in the upcoming IPL games.

Fans compared Suyash to Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra as soon as the spinner shone on his dream IPL debut. One tweeted:

"Suyash Sharma, Neeraj Chopra of KKR."

Here are some of the other best Twitter reactions:

Meanwhile, it's worth mentioning that Neeraj Chopra is a track and field athlete who won the only gold medal (in the men's javelin throw) for India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The 25-year-old became only the second Indian after shooter Abhinav Bindra to win a gold medal at the Olympics.

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Suyash Sharma shines as KKR beat RCB by 81 runs at home

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis opted to bowl after winning the toss against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday.

A clinical batting performance from Rahmanullah Gurbaz (57 off 44) got KKR off to a good start but the tourists bounced back to put KKR on the back. However, Shardul Thakur (68 off 29) and Rinku Singh (46 off 33) helped KKR post 204/7 in their allotted 20 overs.

David Willey and Karn Sharma emerged as the pick of the bowlers for RCB, while Mohammed Siraj, Michael Bracewell and Harshal Patel scalped one wicket apiece.

In response, Faf du Plessis and Co. were bundled out for 123 in 17.4 overs following a batting unit collapse. Openers Virat Kohli, du Plessis, Willey and Akash Deep were the only batters to reach double figures with the bat.

For KKR, Varun Chakaravarthy scalped four wickets, while Suyash and Sunil Narine bagged three and two wickets, respectively.