Ashutosh Sharma continued his remarkable bowling run in the One-Day Cup by claiming the first five-wicket haul of his List A career for Hampshire against Essex on Friday (July 31).
Known primarily as a power-hitting finisher in the IPL, Ashutosh returned figures of 5-51 from his 10 overs as Hampshire bowled Essex out for 317 in 49 overs. His haul included the wickets of Tom Westley, Charlie Allison, Simon Fernandes, Mackenzie Jones and Charlie Bennett.
Ashutosh struck twice in the 19th over to remove Essex captain Westley and Allison, reducing the visitors from 120-1 to 120-3. He returned in the closing stages of the innings to dismiss Fernandes before wrapping up the innings with the final two wickets, completing his maiden five-for at the senior level.
The performance continued an impressive start to his maiden One-Day Cup campaign. He picked up 3-48 on debut against Yorkshire before following it up with 4-54 against Middlesex. Although he returned more modest figures of 1-49 against Gloucestershire on July 29, he has now taken 13 wickets in four matches at an average of 15.53, the most by any bowler in this season's competition.
Ashutosh had arrived in England after captaining Malwa Stallions in the 2026 Madhya Pradesh League T20, where he claimed seven wickets in eight innings despite being known primarily for his batting. Before joining Hampshire, he had taken just two wickets in 22 overs across four List A matches and had never bowled in his 32 IPL appearances.
The 27-year-old first came into the spotlight in 2023 after breaking Yuvraj Singh's record for the fastest T20 fifty by an Indian, reaching the landmark in 11 balls for Railways against Arunachal Pradesh. That knock earned him an IPL contract with Punjab Kings before Delhi Capitals signed him ahead of IPL 2025. Across the last two IPL seasons, he has scored 375 runs in 17 innings at a strike rate of nearly 170 while establishing himself as a lower-order finisher. He has hit 25 sixes in 17 innings, the most by a batter at No.6 or lower.
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