‘Will be remembered for a long time’- Sunil Gavaskar praises Ashutosh Sharma’s heroics vs LSG

Ashutosh Sharma of the Delhi Capitals (DC) was praised by former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar for his heroics during his team’s thrilling one-wicket victory over the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on March 24 in the IPL 2025 at Visakhapatnam.

After a thrilling final over victory over LSG, the Axar Patel-led Capitals secured their season opener thanks to Ashutosh. With an undefeated 66 off 31, which included five boundaries and as many sixes, Ashutosh was the main contributor.

Even though he had a stellar 2024 season with the Punjab Kings (PBKS), the team let him go prior to the big auction, where the Capitals paid INR 3.8 crore to get him. Gavaskar claimed that the innings would be “remembered for a long time” and showered the batsman with accolades for his valiant efforts.

He did that last year as well, and his confidence has only increased since then. He put up some amazing innings. You have even more confidence going into the next season once you’ve done it once. He was hitting it cleanly from the center of the bat from the first ball, delivering it deep. These weren’t just sporadic sixes that cleared the boundary; they were repeatedly landing in the stands, according to Gavaskar on JioHotstar.

“This innings will be remembered for a long, long time—not just because of the quality of stroke play, but because of the high-pressure situation,” he stated.

Rishabh Pant is a clever cricket player: Sunil Gavaskar

When questioned about Rishabh Pant’s captaincy, Gavaskar also defended him. With his team needing one wicket to win, Pant missed a stumping opportunity in the penultimate over and hit a six-ball duck, demonstrating his lack of skill with the bat and gloves. But according to Gavaskar, he is a “intelligent” player who will grow from his errors.

“As an astute player, Rishabh Pant will have gained important knowledge about both his batting and captaincy. I think he will give us a better performance. Furthermore, a captain’s confidence in laying the field and making bowling adjustments is greatly increased when they score runs or take wickets. I think his captaincy will become even more certain after he has a few runs under his belt,” Gavaskar stated.