IPL 7: Patiala lad, Sandeep Sharma is making it large!

Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan Papnai

New Delhi: Kings XI Punjab have been in news this season, mostly due to their two swashbuckling batsmen – Glenn Maxwell and David Miller – and for their dream run in the on-going Indian Premier League season. But there is a young speedster from Patiala, who is making a name for himself by his impressive swing bowling – Sandeep Sharma (Sandy). Most of the prolific batsmen are dancing on the tunes of Sharma this season. He masters the art of swing bowling and is capable of swinging the ball both ways. Though, his sharp in-swingers for right-handers have been the rage among the batsmen, an odd one, which swings the other way, has left them in two minds. The 20-year old also impressed many with the consistent line and length while representing the same franchise last season. But this year, he has emerged as one of the most successful seam bowlers with 14 wickets under his belt, from eight matches. His consistent performance with the bowl has certainly made him an integral part of the franchise, in which they also have the best fast bowler in the world, Mitchell Johnson. This season, Sharma has got the better of many world-class batsmen. But it were the wickets of Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle that caught the attention of many towards this youngster. In fact, he was successful in getting the wicket of these two hard-hitting batsmen, not only once, but twice in the tournament. Though, Sandeep was torn apart in the last match KXIP played against Sunrisers Hyderabad (4-0-65-1), which also made him the second most expensive bowler in the history of the tournament, in T20 format, these things are bound to happen. Hopefully, Indian selectors and skipper MS Dhoni must be watching the performances of Sandy from close quarters and the lad might be rewarded for it in the days to come.