Ashutosh Sharma could soon play alongside his favourite player, Virat Kohli. The 26-year-old, who made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut last year, will feature for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the 2025 season. The finisher had left a huge impact last year, with his blitzkriegs down the order for the Punjab Kings.
No ‘josh’ for Ashutosh at ‘mock’ IPL 2025 auction
Earlier today, we got to know that Ashutosh went for RCB trails. There he was watched by Director of Cricket Mo Bobat and batting coach/mentor Dinesh Karthik. But hang on a minute, Ashutosh hasn’t really joined RCB. This isn’t official, at least not yet. Ashutosh went to RCB at the mock IPL 2025 mega auction organised by Ravichandran Ashwin.
The 26-year-old has set himself a base price of Rs 30 lakh since he’s uncapped. But Ashwin’s mock auction started the bid at Rs 1 crore instead. RCB started with a Rs 1.25 crore bid, and Lucknow Super Giants kept up with them until the price reached Rs 2.75 crore and they backed out.
Is Ashutosh Sharma the perfect replacement for Dinesh Karthik?
Karthik just retired last year and has left a void for RCB. There isn’t an abundance of finishers in the IPL, and Karthik was one of the most successful death hitters. He’s scored nearly 3000 runs while batting from positions five to eight. For RCB alone, he scored over 800 runs. His shoes won’t be easy to fill, but Ashutosh can do that tough job.
The 26-year-old hasn’t yet batted at number five. He’s only played nine innings, and the only position he’s been successful at is eight, where he’s scored 164 of his 189 runs at 41 while striking at 202.47. But he’s just played one season and still has a lot of time to improve.
Karthik is RCB‘s batting coach and can help Ashutosh become the best finisher in the league. He himself transformed into a finisher later on in his career and can aid Ashutosh in doing the reverse, i.e., teaching how to bat from number five to seven.
Ashutosh Sharma’s IPL/PBKS stats
| Innings | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 50s | Highest Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 189 | 27 | 167.25 | 1 | 61 |
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