IPL 7: Robin Uthappa, Sandeep Sharma have caught everyone's attention

Mumbai: Two players who have grabbed attention with their performances in IPL 7 are batsman Robin Uthappa and medium-pacer Sandeep Sharma. I would be very surprised if both are not on the short list of the selectors who meet soon to pick the side for next month’s series against Bangladesh.

The two major issues that have emerged as India surrendered its number 1 ranking in ODIs over the past 6-8 months are lack of runs and wickets at the start.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan’s form has looked sketchy; in the bowling department it is perhaps even more serious with Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami being non-penetrative as well as expensive. Uthappa, discarded from the national team a couple of seasons ago, has come storming back into contention, staving off the challenge from other stalwarts like Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir or any newcomer.

True Gambhir, who is also Uthappa’s captain at Kolkata Knight Riders, has overcome a dismal start to make his mark in IPL7 as batsman and captain, but fades in comparison to his teammate.

Uthappa’s prolific run-getting and superbly controlled strokeplay have been the highlight in the frenetic ethos of T20 cricket. In contrast to the other major run-getters like Glenn Maxwell and Dwayne Smith, he has been less hit-or-miss without being less innovative and his strike rate is not far behind.

In Indian cricket, perhaps in the sport itself, Uthappa has been unusual in that he has a personal coach in Praveen Amre, a la tennis players, who travels with him most times. How much this has helped him is a moot question, but the selectors need only be bothered by how many and how he is scoring runs.

In both aspects, he is difficult to ignore. In the context of Indian cricket’s needs, medium-pacer Sandeep Sharma has been the find of the season playing for Kings Xl Punjab and upstages everything else, including big-scoring Uthappa.

A 20-year-old rookie who had first shown glimpses of his talent in the 2012 under-19 World Cup Sandeep holds out great promise with his swing bowling that has got him a bagful of wickets and his team important victories.

Punjab’s position at the top of the league heading into the play-offs is widely attributed to the explosive batting line-up. This is largely but not entirely true for as the season wore on, the bowlers too have come into the reckoning.

While Sehwag, Vohra, Maxwell, Miller, Marsh, Bailey and Saha have demolished and demoralized opposing bowlers, Sandeep’s contribution has been no less significant. He has picked up early wickets in almost every match bamboozling batsmen with his ability to move the ball very late.

Waqar Younis, master of late swing, told me during a commentary stint we did together, that Sandeep’s success is based on fine technique and control. “His wrist position is right at the delivery time, which helps in the seam position as the ball travels,’’ said Waqar.

“He also bowls a full length which allows him to get the ball to swing very late. At the highest level, that is the key for quality batsmen will be untroubled if they can read the movement early. Now he needs to become stronger and get a yard or two quicker.’’ That is fulsome praise from an all-time great.It is pertinent to note that the top orders of most teams has accomplished batsmen, several of them internationals.

Measured by that yardstick, Sandeep’s success is hugely encouraging. True, the IPL is a domestic tournament and T20 form is not necessarily an index to success in the other formats. Even so, two things work in favour of Uthappa and Sandeep, both have been very consistent and both can fill in important gaps as the squad for the 2015 World Cup begins to take final shape.