"Sack top 4 and open with Shashank and ashutosh, wasting brilliant talents" - Fans go berserk as PBKS duo almost pull off another miracle in IPL 2024

Punjab Kings' (PBKS) latest sensations Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma were at it again in an attempt to pull off another miraculous chase against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Mullanpur on Tuesday, April 9.

The duo stitched together an incredible 43-run partnership off 22 deliveries against Gujarat Titans (GT) to help them win from an improbable situation. Chasing 200, the pair joined hands at a precarious 150/6 in the 16th over and still willed the side to a memorable victory.

Cut to the SRH clash and the situation was even more dire with Shashank and Ashutosh coming together at 114/6 in the 16th over. Needing a further 69 off 27 to win, the duo brought it down to 10 off two before running out of steam.

PBKS eventually lost by two runs but fans on X recognized the incredible performances of the two lower-order batters with high praise.

Here are some of the best reactions:

Fans continued singing the praises of the finishing pair and wanted them to bat higher up the order.

"Sack top 4 and open with Shashank and ashutosh, wasting brilliant talents," one fan tweeted.

"They really need to get their batting sorted before it's too late for them to bounce back, it really needs to get Shashank and Ashutosh up the order as they both could help their course and could sail the ship with ease to victory, both are bestowed with incredible striking ability," said another.

"Both Shashank n Ashutosh were immaculate during that chase, when you batters of their potential, you gotta fear repercussions and both managed to get almost all and just fell short of 2 runs, they both were clinical and phenomenal during their relentless pursuit of Target!!," a fan said.

"Great to see youngsters chipping in with such consistency" - Shikhar Dhawan

PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan heaped praise on Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma for almost pulling off another heist with their breathtaking strokeplay against SRH.

The duo had to strike boundaries at will against the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Pat Cummins, T Natarajan, and Jaydev Unadkat to make the contest ever-so-close.

Talking about the duo's sensational partnership at the post-match presentation, Dhawan said:

"I feel that Shashank and Ashutosh played a great knock. It's great to see youngsters chipping in with such consistency (on Shashank and Ashutosh). There was always hope that they could finish the game, but we got so close and that'll give us confidence going into the future games, but we'll have to do better going ahead."

The loss meant PBKS remained sixth on the points table with two wins in five outings.

They will take on the in-form Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their next game on Saturday, April 13.