Former Chennai Super Kings pacer Mohit Sharma made an impressive debut for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023. The almost forgotten star returned to IPL after 3 years and made many people praise him for his disciplined bowling against Punjab Kings at the IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali. He outfoxed two PBKS batters- Jitesh Sharma and Sam Curran and ended with figures of 4-0-18-2.
For a bowler being an International player, playing a World Cup semifinal and winning the Purple Cap (in 2014) to then being a net bowler of an IPL franchise is not easy, but Mohit took the most of the opportunity. He went unsold in IPL 2022 and was the net bowler of Gujarat Titans last year only getting a game when Yash Dayal was dropped out. Mohit got a call from GT coach Ashish Nehra and was offered the role of a net bowler. "I had had back surgery, and many people weren't sure if I had played enough domestic cricket (to be signed for IPL auction). I received a call from Ashish bhai, saying I should be with the team, and if someone gets injured I'd get a chance," Sharma said to broadcasters in the mid-innings of the PBKS vs GT game.
Mohit has not played for India since October 2015 and his final regular IPL season was in 2018. He played one game in 2019 and another one in 2020, which was his final IPL game. He stated that doing competitive practice is better to upgrade your cricket. "Obviously, if you have to upgrade your cricket or better it in any way, you need competitive practice. I felt, what am I going to do sitting at home? I was here and doing competitive practice instead, I kept myself involved in cricket, and I think it was a good time for me."
"It's not a bad thing to be a net bowler. You get very good exposure, you get to play alongside good players, and if you don't do competitive practice, your cricket won't evolve," he added. Mohit's spell helped GT restrict PBKS to 153. Later, on the back of fifty from Shubman Gill and Rahul Tewtai's four, GT sealed their third win in four games.
