PBKS vs GT IPL 2026: Uncapped pacer Ashok Sharma will be playing his debut IPL match for the Gujarat Titans during their tournament opener against the Punjab Kings at their backyard on Tuesday, where the hosts won the toss and chose to bowl first. The Gujarat-based franchise gave debuts to Ashok Sharma and Glenn Phillips, dropping Jason Holder.
Glenn Phillips, Jos Buttler, Kagiso Rabada, and Rashid Khan are the four overseas players for GT. Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer emphasised that they did chase down mammoth targets quite comprehensively during practice matches. Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill revealed that the pitch had remained covered for the last few days, but it still looked a batting-friendly surface.
Who is Ashok Sharma? Let's examine his journey to his IPL debut and his cricketing achievements so far.
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Gujarat Titans had roped in the 23-year-old Ashok for Rs 90 lakhs during the auction last year on the back of a brilliant domestic stint with Rajasthan.
During his first year of senior cricket, he played a huge role for Rajasthan during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He was the highest wicket-taker, taking 19 wickets during the group stage at a staggering average of 12.10 and an economy rate of 8.84. After playing in nine matches, he had taken 20 wickets at a brilliant average of 14.80.
He did perform consistently in domestic T20 cricket. He took the wicket of three Tamil Nadu batters during his debut T20 match and then took two wickets in the match against Tripura. In the clash against Karnataka, he took 3/43. He then took consecutive four-fers against teams like Uttarakhand and Saurashtra, and then took two wickets against Delhi during their sixth group stage match.
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Ashok, who can bowl at the speed of 150kmph, calls himself a hard-length bowler. He has also served as a net bowler for the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals.
He was also part of the Rajasthan Royals team during IPL 2025, bought for Rs 30 lakh, but didn't play a single match.
Due to his brilliant performances in the domestic circuit, he was given trials by several IPL teams, including the reigning champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Talking about the youngster, Ashish Nehra, who is the head coach of the Gujarat Titans, said, "At the same time, we recognise Ashok as an exciting raw talent. Over the past couple of weeks, we've seen enough to believe he can become a key part of our bowling unit this season. As a coaching group, we see it as both a challenge and an opportunity to bring out the best in both ends of the experience spectrum and create a strong, balanced attack."