You need big heart when bowling at the death: Sandeep

Jaipur: You have to have a big heart when bowling at the death while trying to execute your plans, insisted Rajasthan Royals medium pacer Sandeep Sharma after recording the ongoing IPL season’s best bowling performance.

Bowling after a three-week injury layoff, the 30-year-old Sharma wreaked havoc in the Mumbai Indians camp with a splendid 5 for 18 on Monday.

“In this year’s IPL, batters are going big and with the impact player rule, there is an extra batter so the games are high-scoring. You have to have a big heart while bowling at the death and try to execute your plans and bowl good balls,” he said after RR’s nine-wicket win over MI.

Sharma, who started off as a new-ball exponent in the IPL, has been tasked to bowl the death overs by the Royals in the three games that he has played this season. “Even today you ask me where I feel comfortable, I’ll say it’s with the new ball. With the old ball, you have to adapt and evolve as a bowler,” he said.

Sharma returned to the RR playing XI after recuperating from a side strain that kept him out for close to a month.

“I was working hard towards my fitness for the last three weeks. I had two practice sessions before the game, my main focus was to execute the variations that I did tonight.”

Against MI, Sharma’s scalps included the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, the big hitting Tim David, Ishan Kishan and Gerald Coetzee. He took three wickets in the final over, restricting MI to 179 despite a 99-run stand between Varma and Nehal Wadhera.