Rajasthan Royals pacer Sandeep Sharma believes that when it comes to Indian cricket, younger players are always preferred over those who are in their early 30s if both end up giving similar performances.
When asked about whether he still has the passion to play for the national team, he answered: “I think I have. But, I personally feel that once you turn 32 or 33 in the Indian circuit, even if you’re performing well, people don’t really look at you,” he was quoted as saying by Crictracker. “People always go for younger players – and that’s how it should be.”
Sandeep made his debut for India in 2015 against Zimbabwe. He played two matches in Zimbabwe and took a single wicket. However, since then, he has not represented India in any match. He has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit and IPL. He has played 55 first-class matches and taken 186 wickets. In 74 List A matches, Sandeep has bagged 112 wickets. In the IPL, he has 146 wickets to his name in 137 matches. He has made a name for himself with a great record against Virat Kohli in the IPL, dismissing him seven times.
He even gave the example of himself and Harshit Rana to justify his statement. “ Even if I were a selector, and you asked me who I would pick – Harshit Rana or Sandeep Sharma, if both are performing similarly – I would always pick Harshit Rana. Because he has that future ahead of him.”
However, Sandeep also believes that if someone is performing better than others by a considerable margin, then he or she can be selected. Although he admitted that he himself is not doing so.
“If someone is clearly outperforming others, that’s a different case. But if you look at the IPL, I’m not outperforming these guys by a big margin,” he noted.
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