Spending time in the middle was the mantra for Suryansh Shedge, whose 57 off 29 balls had temporarily seemed to have dragged Punjab Kings out of the woods on Sunday.
The visitor eventually lost by four wickets against the Gujarat Titans, but Shedge, having waited for long to pounce on an opportunity, got much-needed gametime.
“I wouldn’t say I was waiting. I was preparing. So, I look at it from that perspective that whenever I’m thrown into a situation, I should be ready for that.
I’ve been speaking to Ricky (Ponting) sir a lot. I’ve been speaking to our captain a lot because I know him. The only thing they tell me is whenever the opportunity knocks, you have to be ready and take it with both hands. So that’s what I tried to do,” Shedge said.“It’s just sometimes some batters get good balls and they get out. But my only intention was to spend as much time as I could. And that, I think, made things easier as I progressed through the innings.”
Despite being his side’s best batter and getting it to a competitive 163 on a two-paced wicket, Shedge took responsibility for the loss.
“That 7.5-metre length was difficult to play. I think it was a bit two-paced because of the grass and the black soil. And I think at the end of the day, if we would have saved some runs here and there, we would have ended up winning the game. But I put my hand up. I think I should have stayed there because I was set. And if I would have let that ball go (from Kagiso Rabada), things would have been different,” Shedge said.
