I love bowling in the power play, says Sandeep

In Punjab’s match against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sandeep sizzled with his first spell reading 3-0-7-1, which included 14 dot balls, which is rare in T20. In the match against Rising Pune Supergiant too, Sandeep had tied down the top order batsmen with accurate swing bowling. 

And it is just natural that Sandeep loves the new ball. “My strength is swinging the ball and I try to be aggressive with the new ball. My aim is to take more wickets and that stops the run flow and more importantly, we get dot balls. I trust myself more with the new ball than in the slog overs where I rely a lot on variation, like the yorker, the slower one and the off-cutter,” Sandeep said in an interaction with DTNext. 

According to Sandeep having explosive batsmen like Virender Sehwag on the sidelines and Glenn Maxwell at the helm have helped him a lot. “I interact a lot with Viru paaji. He has a lot of experience and more importantly he is a batsman. He tells me what a batsman thinks when he is ready to face a bowler like me, what shots he has planned etc. It helps me in my strategy. I ask a lot of questions and get interesting answers. He always asks me to surprise the batsman and whenever I apply his suggestions, I get the desired results,” the Punjab-born pacer added. 

Sandeep added, “Maxwell is as aggressive on the field like how he is with the bat. He has always allowed me to bowl the way I want, gives me the field I want and has been an excellent support.” 

With so much of support, it is natural for Sandeep to have an emotional bond with the team. “I have been playing for KXIP for more than five years. I have played over 50 games for them. It has been a great journey. I am emotionally attached as this is my first IPL team. I always strive to give my heart out,” he added.

Just as any young bowler, Sandeep relishes sharing the dressing room with many big names. “Aspiring cricketers across the country want to play the IPL. I am one of the luckiest to meet other players and share the dressing room. Interacting and sharing the dressing room with players like Morgan, Guptill, Viru paaji and Maxwell wouldn’t have been possible if not for the IPL. I feel grateful and the lessons have been immensely fruitful,” he said hoping that he would get back into the Indian team after featuring in two T20s against Zimbabwe.