Former Punjab Kings player helps Virat Kohli’s team win in Ranji Trophy on Kohli’s return match

An underrated and former Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) cricketer named Shivam Sharma has caught the headlines after picking up 5 wickets in an innings in the final match of Ranji Trophy Elite 2024-25. The Ranji Trophy match-up between Delhi and Railways kicked off at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on 30th January.

With the former Indian skipper, Virat Kohli making his return to the Ranji Trophy, all the hype was around the star batter but someone made the headline.

Off-spin bowler Shivam Sharma took 5 wickets for Delhi in the 2nd inning to guide the Delhi team to an innings victory vs Railways. After his performance , everyone wants to know who is this guy and where he comes from.

Winning the toss, Ayush Badoni, the skipper of Delhi, opted to bowl first. Their decision paid off as they bowled out the opposition for 241 runs with Navdeep Saini and Sumit Mathur picking 3 wickets each. Coming out to bat, the home side wanted a fabulous show from the star Indian cricketer Virat Kohli who eventually bowled out by Himanshu Sangwan for just 6 runs.

However, Ayush Badoni missed his well-deserved hundred as he was dismissed by Karn Sharma for 99 runs. Sumit Mathur also looked good with the bat, adding 86 runs which helped his side to post a total of 374 runs on the board. The wicket-taker of Virat Kohli, Himanshu Sangwan ended his spell with the figures of 4 for 55.

During the second innings of the game, Shivam Sharma took charge and picked 5 wickets, helping his side to win their final Ranji Trophy Elite Tournament group stage match. Shivam’s performance has certainly caught some eyes.

Shivam Sharma played for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2014

The die-hard cricket fans might remember Shivam Sharma from his Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) days in the IPL. KXIP bought the Delhi-born cricketer during the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League i.e. IPL 2014.

The all-rounder made his IPL debut in a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore where he managed to score 4 runs and picked 2 wickets, dismissing Yuvraj Singh and Albie Morkel as he ended up his figures 2 for 26.

Sharma didn’t much opportunity in the IPL in the only 2 seasons he played for the team. In the first season in 2014, he picked 3 wickets in 4 matches while he played only 1 match in the following season in 2015 and picked a wicket against Rajasthan Royals.

However, that was he end of his IPL career there. However, he has been regularly featuring for Delhi in domestic cricket and has been doing well.