CHENNAI: ON any other day, an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls would not even make one take notice, let alone grab headlines. Not on Saturday when Kartik Sharma saw off the chase for Chennai Super Kings against Mumbai Indians to keep the play-off hopes alive.
Sharma — touted as one of the talents to watch both in the auction where the franchise paid ₹14.2 crore to sign him and in the lead up to the season — added 98 runs alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad for the third wicket before pulling out a gun shot celebration in front of a 34,900-strong packed MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The 20-year-old from Rajasthan — known as MS Dhoni of Rajasthan — was understandably pleased to step up and deliver for the team, especially after a string of scores that read: 18, 1, 6, 18, 15. And so was head coach Stephen Fleming, who felt Saturday’s performance was the reward for the hard work put in over the year.
“You have the young players; there are two parts to it. One is how you introduce them. It is a big stage, no matter what they've been doing at the domestic level. Understanding their mindset is really important, and it is a big step up. They can have all the talent in the world, but temperament is what we're looking for. His introduction was tough at the start, and then he had a little bit of time out. We worked hard and today was a good reward for that,” Fleming explained after the match.
“He's a fine player, and it was expensive in the auction because others saw that as well. Tonight it was good to see the temperament as well as the skill on show, and he will just get better and better. So it's a nice spot for him, and the timing was right. We are really pleased and proud of what he did today,” he added.
Sharma came to CSK on the back of a strong domestic show for Rajasthan, especially with his big six-hitting prowess. However, the price tag pressure that came after the auction meant his IPL start was not seamless. On a pitch that had bounce, with a not-big total to chase, Saturday proved to be a perfect setting for Sharma to come and deliver. “It's just trying to understand at what level the skill keeps lifting, and when it's at a domestic level, you're trying to quantify the standard. Some of it I can't see, some of it you see a lot on video. But again, it comes back to that temperament. Being able to do it on this stage is very unique, and when we watched him in the last trials and then his recent form leading into the auction, we felt that he was pretty close or ready to have a chance. He's worked very hard. There were some things he had to work on and still needs to work on as he goes forward. But again, he was impressive today,” Fleming said.
What has also helped is having someone like David Reid as a mental skills coach with the team. Fleming stressed the significance of it all, especially soaking in the pressure of playing in front of a packed colosseum. CSK, for their part, have a young players programme where they are trained in the mental skills that are required to handle the pressure.
“You're sending players out into an absolute cauldron tonight with 35,000 to 50,000 to 100,000 people. Often the skills they have got have just been technical. So the mental aspect of staying calm and understanding what the mind and body are doing is reasonably untapped in this competition. We have had one of the best in MS Dhoni, who has been as calm as anyone can be in winning games. So learning from him but also understanding a little bit more of the science around it,” he said.
“We run a young players program where we introduce them to certain mental skills, breathing and aspects that might help them to perform. Because they are very good at hitting balls in the nets, but understanding nerves and anxiety and fear of failure is also equally important, especially if you have a price tag on your head. I think more than ever the duty of care is around the mental health aspect and just making sure that these players have some skills to go alongside the talent that they possess,” Fleming added.