Suryansh Shedge, just 23 but with a big reputation. A breakthrough - for Mumbai at that - at the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy ensured that. Punjab Kings (PBKS) got hold of him. But then, he had to bide his time, waiting for his chance. Or not, since, as he put it after his 29-ball 57 against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday night, "I wouldn't say I was waiting, I was preparing".
It was his second game of IPL 2026, after he got to face two balls against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 28. He hasn't had a chance to show off his medium-pace bowling yet. But this innings showed that he has the raw materials to be an Indian finisher PBKS could do with.
"Just his confidence in terms of playing those big shots," Ambati Rayudu said of Shedge on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show when asked what about the young batter had impressed him the most. "If you remember, he has won a final. He played a match-winning knock for his team in the Mushtaq Ali final. From then on, being picked in the IPL, being in the IPL and also playing an innings like that…"
Shedge walked out at No. 6 against GT with PBKS 36 for 4 in the seventh over. It became 47 for 5 soon after when Shreyas Iyer fell, and Shedge then stitched together a 79-run stand off just 44 balls with Marcius Stoinis. Shedge comfortably outscored Stoinis during their stand, finishing with three fours and five sixes. Three of those sixes and two of the fours came in one Manav Suthar over, the 14th of the innings, when the left-arm kept flighting the ball and landing it in the slot.
"He was helped by Suthar definitely in that over - there were a lot of loose balls," Rayudu said. "But, yeah, he hung in there. He looked like someone who could clear the ground easily. As an Indian player coming into the IPL, if that is your strength, then half the battle is already won. After that, it's just game awareness that you need to get in."
But then Shedge threw it away. With PBKS yet to get into a position of strength, he tried to cut the last ball of Kagiso Rabada's spell in the 16th over, couldn't find the room against the hard-length delivery, and nicked to the wicketkeeper. PBKS finished with 163 for 9. Below par, but they did take the chase to 19.5 overs.
"I think that was the last ball of his spell. I could have let it go in hindsight when I look at it. If I would have let it go, maybe we would have scored 20-25 more runs and that would have made things easier," Shedge said. "But I still think 160 [163] was a fighting total. And, at the end of the day, when we look back, I think we gave it our all. That's what matters.
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"[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, things would have been different."
Shedge didn't get into PBKS' XI straightaway this season, and now, both the games he has been part of have gone against his team - their only two losses this season so far, in fact. But Shedge would have us believe that the time he spent on the bench actually helped him.
"Whenever I'm thrown into a situation, I should be ready for that," he said. "So maybe all that waiting was me getting time for my preparation and getting sorted mentally, and I've been speaking to Ricky [Ponting] sir a lot, I've been speaking to our captain [Iyer] 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.
"I think since I was young, I've always enjoyed having a challenge. And this season, while playing domestic cricket, I think I've gotten my team out of trouble as well in the Under-23 and some other tournaments. I always like it. I think I thrive in it. And going forward, I can't anticipate which situation I'm thrown into. I can just be ready for everything. And that's how I try to prepare. I try to put myself into different scenarios."