On Saturday (31st October) evening, the 27-year-old Indian pacer Sandeep Sharma became the second bowler to pick up 50 IPL wickets in the mandatory powerplay (0.1-5.6 overs).
Sandeep Sharma achieved this incredible feat during the 52nd match of the IPL 2020, where his team SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) were playing the must-win game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Sharjah Cricket Stadium (Sharjah).
The right-arm medium pacer Sandeep provided a very good start for his team SRH, who won the toss and sent their opposition to bat first. In the mandatory powerplay of that first innings, Sandeep took two crucial wickets as he first bowled the opener Devdutt Padikkal (5), and then he dismissed skipper Virat Kohli (7).
With that two wickets in the mandatory powerplay, Sandeep not only completed his 50 IPL wickets inside the mandatory powerplay but he has also stretched his IPL wickets number in that powerplay to 51.
The former Indian left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan was the first bowler to pick up 50 IPL wickets inside the mandatory powerplay. Zaheer finished his career with 52 IPL wickets inside the powerplay as Sandeep is now only one wicket away from Zaheer in this special list.
Top 5 most IPL wicket-takers in the powerplay
| Player | Wickets |
| Zaheer Khan | 52 |
| Sandeep Sharma | 51 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 48 |
| Umesh Yadav | 45 |
| Dhawal Kulkarni | 44 |
Sandeep Sharma equalled another IPL record of Zaheer Khan
Also, Sandeep Sharma created another history during that powerplay. While he dismissed RCB captain Virat Kohli during that powerplay, it was his 7th success against Kohli in the IPL career. Taking that wicket, Sandeep equalled the record of most success for a bowler against a particular batsman in IPL history. Former left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan was earlier holding that record solely as he dismissed MS Dhoni for seven times in IPL career.
Just a few days ago, Sandeep completed his 100 wickets in IPL career. He finished the latest match against RCB with the bowling figures of 4-0-20-2. After his latest spell, Sandeep has taken 105 wickets in 89 IPL matches.