Ashutosh Sharma, who helped Delhi Capitals come back from the brink and pull off a one-wicket heist versus Lucknow Super Giants here on Monday, said that his approach was to take the game deep and go for his shots in the slog overs.
“I just wanted to take it as much as later (deeper), so that I can hit in the slog overs, batting till the last over,” he said in the post-match press conference.
Asked if he felt the match slipping away at any point when he was batting, he said: “No. I just believe in my ability while batting. I never think about what’s going on (wickets falling at the other end).”
He said he has a better understanding of the Vizag ground, having played here in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last year. “I know how the wicket plays in the first and second innings. I know the situation and what it will become. So, yes, Vizag is good for me.”
Acknowledging that he had a good last season with the Punjab Kings, he said that he has carried forward the positive aspects and the lessons learned from it.
“Last year was really good. But it has become history for me. I’ve taken the positive things from last season. Whatever mistakes I had done last year, I’m trying not to do those mistakes this year. I’m applying what I did in domestic cricket,” he said.
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Talking about having Kevin Pietersen as the team mentor at Capitals, he said: “It is good for us that a legend is in our dressing room. I always talk to him about batting and what he did in his time.”
Ashutosh was seen chatting with Pietersen on the ground after his blazing innings. Asked what Pietersen told him, he quipped: “He was telling me it’s too easy.”
On the takeaways for LSG, assistant coach Lance Klusener said: “I learned that possibly we need to make bigger partnerships when we are batting. If I have to put a finger on it, I would like to say we probably left 20 or 30 runs with the bat out there and that was probably why we ended up being under pressure with the ball. That was probably the biggest lesson for us.”
Referring to injuries to key Indian pacers – Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, and Mayank Yadav – he said that the team was reduced to “mix-and-match” the available bowlers.
“The way that the bowling is set up because of the injuries that we’ve got, it was always going to be mix-and-match tonight. Just going with someone who’s got a bit of momentum and trying to break their (opponent’s) momentum as much as possible. Unfortunately, we bowled well in patches. We need to be more consistent with the ball.
“At the moment, we don’t have a lot of reserves with the ball. So, we are going to have to probably mix-and-match until we start getting players back. I was really happy for Shardul Thakur (Mohsin’s replacement). Two wickets in the first over. Someone who’s spent time with us. Got an opportunity to play this year’s IPL. I thought he gave us a great start,” he said.