HE WAS as soon as a promising batsman, however sacrificed his profession to take over the household enterprise after his father Himanshu Sharma died of kidney failure in 2015. Vikrant Sharma’s choice allowed his youthful brother Vivrant to pursue his cricketing dream.
On Friday, that household choice paid off when Vivrant, the 23-year-old J&Okay leg-spinning all-rounder, was picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 2.60 crore — 13-fold his base value — on the IPL mini-auction in Kochi.
And but, Vivrant’s day of pleasure was tinged with remorse. “If my father had been alive, he would have been very happy. But still, my journey has just begun. Papa’s demise hit us. My brother took over the business (acid and chemicals) and told me to focus on cricket. He had played at the inter-university level. He was my idol and I used to copy his batting stance. I was a right-handed batsman and switched just to mimic my brother, and the change stuck,” Vivrant advised The Indian Express from Ahmedabad the place J&Okay was concerned in a Ranji Trophy sport in opposition to Gujarat.
Friday additionally marked a number of record-breaking buys on the IPL with Punjab Kings shelling out an all-time excessive of Rs 18.25 crore for England all-rounder Sam Curran. Two different all-rounders — Cameron Green (Mumbai Indians, Rs 17.5 crore) and Ben Stokes (Chennai Super Kings, Rs 16.25 crore) — additionally triggered frenzied bidding in Kochi.
In Jammu, in the meantime, Vivrant’s mom Sunita Mangotra is a high-school instructor who made certain that her son chased his dream single-mindedly. “She has been the backbone of our family. She is one of the most strong-willed women I have seen. She always told me, ‘don’t worry, just follow your dream and make sure you reach there’,” Vivrant mentioned.
Last 12 months, Vivrant was with Sunrisers Hyderabad as a web bowler, picked after his senior within the J&Okay group, Abdul Samad, shared movies of his bowling with the group administration.
“There are so many well-wishers to whom I want to express my gratitude. But obviously, it started with my friends and teammates who played in the IPL, which gave me self-belief. It started with Rasikh Salam, then Abdul Samad got picked before Umran Malik (the fast bowler who now plays for India) followed,” Vivrant mentioned.
“Last year, I was picked as a net bowler. It went well. Just being there with the top cricketers gives you enough confidence. Spending training sessions with the likes of Brian Lara, Muthiah Muralidaran and Dale Steyn, you improve as a cricketer,” he mentioned.
This 12 months, Vivrant had an amazing white-ball home season. He scored 128 runs in 4 innings within the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, batting at No. 6 with a powerful strike charge of 145.45. He additionally picked six wickets at a wonderful economic system charge of 6.66.
In the Vijay Hazare (50-over) Trophy, the J&Okay group promoted him to high of the order, and he scored 395 runs in eight matches, together with a century and two fifties. “I can bat anywhere in the top six,” Vivrant mentioned, including that he considers himself a “proper all-rounder”.
“I am not a part-time bowler. I can bowl four overs in T20s and 10 in one-dayers,” he mentioned. “Right from age-group cricket, I have focused on my batting as well as bowling. In batting, I have worked on power-hitting, and now I have the confidence to hit sixes with authority.”
The profitable IPL deal has, unsurprisingly, made him a sought-after member of the J&Okay group. “Abhi phone rakhta hun warna hotel ka gate tod denge yeh log (I am disconnecting the call, or they [his teammates] will break the door of my hotel room).”
