150 km/h rises: Ashok Sharma gets the challenge for India

Ashok Sharma (BCCI/IPL Photo) TimesofIndia.com in Jaipur: A day after switching his home allegiance from Rajasthan to Gujarat, fast bowler Ashok Sharma has been drafted into the India A squad in Sri Lanka as an injury replacement. The 23-year-old pacer replaces the injured Yudhvir Singh.Ashok will fly to Colombo on Tuesday morning before joining the team in Dambulla for a tri-series with India A, Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A.Tilak Varma-led India A suffered a narrow defeat against the hosts on Monday and will now face Afghanistan A on June 17 in a must-win clash.Ashok caught the eye during the Indian Premier League with his raw pace. He has picked up six wickets in as many matches and is highly rated by the management of Gujarat Titans who signed him for 90 lakhs in the auction.TimesofIndia.com understands that Ashok’s ability to bowl at 150km/h while masking a 115km/h slower delivery with the same action particularly impressed Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill.The young speedster first burst into the limelight with his express pace. He broke an 11-year-old record in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, finishing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 22 wickets.Ashok got his first IPL contract in 2022 when Kolkata Knight Riders signed him for £55 million. He was later released and spent a season as a net bowler with Rajasthan Royals. In the 2025 mega auction, Rajasthan Royals bought him for his base price of £30 million but released him again without giving him a game.Despite the setbacks, one thing remained constant: the advice he received from Australian captain Pat Cummins during his time with Kolkata Knight Riders.“I never thought about slowing down. I just wanted to maintain my pace and hit the right length. I spent a lot of time with Pat Cummins in 2022,” Ashok told TimesofIndia.com earlier this year. “I talked to him about lengths and what I could do better. He asked me a simple question: ‘What’s your strength?’ Every pitcher has one. Someone swings it, someone sews it. He asked me what I felt my strength was. I told him I could hit a hard length at a good pace. He told me to stick with it. Whenever I practice, I remember his words. They still ring in my ears.”Ashok now has an opportunity to impress voters with his pace and control in the India A setup. There is still no proper road connecting his village of Rampura, located about 35 kilometers from Jaipur, to the outside world. But the young fast bowler’s journey is going in the right direction and he is nearing his goal.