Meet India's newest T20I debutant Ashok Sharma

Pacer Ashok Sharma makes his debut against Zimbabwe in the T20I series opener in Harare on Thursday.

Pacer Ashok Sharma is set to make is India debut against Zimbabwe in the first T20I of the three-match series in Harare on Thursday.

India skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field against Zimbabwe in the series opener.

'A special moment ahead of the series opener in Harare! Congratulations to Ashok Sharma, who is all set to make his #TeamIndia Debut,' BCCI tweeted with pictures of Ashok receiving his cap.

A son of a farmer, a native of Rampura near Jaipur, came up the hard way through district-level tournaments. His breakthrough season was the 2025-26 domestic season that saw him pick 22 wickets in just 10 games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

He also has 14 wickets in Ranji Trophy.

He made his IPL debut at the 2026 season playing for Gujarat Titans. He clocked speeds exceeding 100kmph and in the match against Rajasthan Royals he bowled a 154kmph delivery at Dhruv Jurel, the fastest delivery ever in the IPL.

The rookie pacer had words of gratitude for GT's coach Ashish Nehra ahead of the Zimbabwe ODIs.

'Whenever I talk about belief, I think of (Ashish) Nehra sir. I used to go to him with every doubt. Whenever I had any self-doubt or needed to ask something, I would approach him,' Ashok told JioStar ahead of the T20I opener.

'He (Nehra) had told me once, 'Even if you come to me at midnight with a question, I will be ready for you.' So whenever I had any doubt, whether it was about a delivery or anything related to my bowling, I would go to him.

'After matches, I would go to his room and watch videos of my bowling. I would ask him what more I could perfect and what I needed to work on. I consider him my mentor. I have learned so much from him this IPL season, and he has helped me a lot,' said one of India's fastest bowlers, who plays domestic cricket for Rajasthan.

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