More than two years ago, on May 23, the former Aussie pace-bowling great, Brett Lee, came up with a blunt response while speaking of the plight of bowlers in modern-day T20 cricket. He expressed concern about the pitches and the over-inclination of modern-day T20 cricket in favour of batters, leaving bowlers with a high-risk, low-margin-of-error game in the four-over spell era. “I am all for sixes and batters getting out there and smoking balls all over the field. But there’s gotta be something in it for the bowlers too,” said Lee to India Today during this press conference in Delhi before the Legends Intercontinental T20 League.
As one of the most celebrated pace bowlers of his era, Brett Lee would be the first to smile with relief after learning that a young, uncapped Indian pacer named Sahil Bhaskar dominated with the ball in an entire bat-dominant franchise T20 league in Punjab.
In 10 innings of the 10 games, Sahil bowled a total of 32 overs in the recently concluded Sher-e-Punjab T20 League 2026; in these appearances, he snared 20 wickets at a sensational bowling strike rate of just 9.60, which means he had an average of at least two wickets in every game he played.
That said, here in this dissection of Sahil’s brilliant run of form in the Sher-e-Punjab T20 League, we’ll take a look at his amazing bowling abilities that threw the surface and conditions out of the equation, alongside a close look at his journey to this noticeable stage.
Here’s why Sahil Bhaskar’s bowling quality transcends the pitch parameters
Ludhiana Lions’ ‘bowler of the tournament’ appeared for the first time in the tournament when his team took on Bathinda Royals. The game was played on the same batting-friendly surface, number 2 at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium, that had witnessed one high-scoring and two good-scoring games from game number 1 to 3. It also included the tournament opener between Amritsar Soormas and Mohali Kings in which the latter chased down the massive 259-run target posted by Abhishek Sharma’s men.Cut to the fourth game between Ludhiana and Bathinda; it was also the start of Sahil’s amazing run of form with the ball that culminated in an aggregate of 20 wickets in 10 innings, with his side unfortunately ending up as the runners-up. Against Bathinda, Sahil picked 3 wickets for 25 runs in his three overs. His effective spell alongside Arjun Rajput’s 4/27 helped the Lions bundle the Royals at the score of 165 in 19 overs.In their second and the tournament’s sixth fixture, Ludhiana faced Mohali Kings. Lions’ skipper Salil Arora won the toss and invited the Kings to bat first and face the pace duo of Sahil Bhaskar and Krish Bhagat in the powerplay.Speaking of Sahil, he came to bowl the last over of the powerplay when Mohali were already struggling at 41/3 after five overs. Jaskaranvir Singh Paul took a single off the first ball of the over, making Rajinder Devgan strike on the second ball; the latter couldn’t read Sahil’s delivery and ended up getting caught in the hands of wicketkeeper Salil Arora. On the last ball of the same over, after a wide, Sahil also dismissed the Kings’ skipper Ramandeep Singh on a four-ball duck. This amazing over ended with the figures of ‘two wickets for just two runs’ in the bowler’s favour, and Mohali’s score dipped to 43/5 from 41/3.Eventually, Sahil once again ended with the improved and impressive figures of 3/14 in three overs, playing a vital role in bundling Mohali at the score of just 101 in 17.2 overs. Later in the third game, Sahil went wicketless for 38 runs in just two overs. However, a lot of factors played a decisive role in this dip, starting with the pressure of performing under the shadow of a marquee international pacer and Lions’ captain, Arshdeep Singh.What probably went against Sahil was bringing him to bowl in the 13th over, aligning with a loss of grip due to the dew factor and the amazing run of form of Jalandhar Warriors’ opener and skipper Prabhsimran Singh, who smashed 24 runs off Sahil’s 8 balls he faced, including four fours, a six, and two singles.
Yorkers and slower bouncers: Two lethal weapons in Sahil’s arsenalBut the 21-year-old came back strongly in his fourth appearance and brilliantly executed his two main weapons: the slower bouncer and the perfect yorker, hitting the spot. He bowled just two overs in this game; the first went for 17 runs, including two fours due to misfielding. Later, he bowled his second over in the last over of the innings. Probably one of the most suitable phases for his bowling attributes. He picked up two wickets in the last over, dismissing Prerit Dutta and Jaiveer Bhinder.Sahil’s excellent execution of yorkers was truly reflected in his spell’s last over and the 20th over of the innings against Amritsar Soormas in the tournament’s last league match. The batters who faced him in this over were Shubham Rana and Jaipratap Singh Johal. The first ball to Shubham was a perfect yorker, followed by a slower one on which the batter could score only a single. Then came Johal on strike to face the two successive yorkers on the third and fourth balls of the over. Speaking of the penultimate delivery of the over, it was straight into the block hole, which somehow found the edge of the bat, and the batting duo managed to run for two. The next ball happened to be a beamer, declared a no-ball; however, Sahil and Salil still managed to dismiss Johal in a run-out. The last and sixth ball of the over was again a yorker, which went behind the wickets in Salil’s hands, giving room to the batters to gather two runs.
The semi-final spell that forced everyone to notice SahilWhat he did in the tournament’s second semi-final between Ludhiana Lions and Jalandhar Warriors was something that compelled everyone to be intrigued and curious about him. In the knockout clash, Sahil bowled his first over in the last over of the powerplay, in which he conceded just six runs.He came to bowl again in the 16th over. The Warriors were comfortably heading towards the 221-run target with a score of 154/2 after 15 overs with eight wickets in hand, but the Lions’ star pacer had some other plans. This over happened to be game-changing in Ludhiana’s favour as Sahil bowled the ‘best over of the tournament’, dismissing three batters for just two runs. The wrath started on the first ball with well-settled Harjas Singh Tandon getting caught by Kartik Chadha. Following a dot ball after Tandon’s dismissal, Sahil got Randeep Singh caught by Madhav Pathania, followed by a single by Emanjot Singh Chahal before Anmol Malhotra fell prey to Sahil in the same succession.After the end of this over, the Lions fell to 156/5 from 154/2. Later in the 18th over, Sahil picked two wickets on successive deliveries before his hat-trick was denied off a DRS call on the third delivery. Following his and the tournament’s only five-wicket haul, Sahil came to bowl the final over and picked another wicket on the fifth ball of the over on a slower one. Emanjot tried to play a scoop but ended up getting trapped in the slower pace of the ball, and the ball safely landed in the hands of Abhijeet Garg at fine-leg.Eventually, Sahil finished with the astonishing figures of 6/16 in his four overs, which also ended up as the ‘best spell of the tournament’, and that too in the knockout stage.The sensational run of form and perfect execution of yorkers and slower bouncers worked for Sahil throughout the tournament, except for wicketless spells in the 20th game and the summit clash against the Soormas.
Jodhpur to Mohali via Fatehgarh: Here’s how new Punjab express reached the desired junction
For the unversed, Sahil’s journey is not as straight as it looks at first glance, based on his performances in the Sher-e-Punjab T20 League 2026. The 21-year-old pacer himself reflected on his entire journey from in an exclusive conversation with Umesh Sharma.
“I used to play cricket and take part in trials at the school level, followed by playing in age-group cricket, U-14 and U-17. When I was performing at these levels, I thought that I should pursue it professionally by joining an academy. I joined the Spartans Cricket Academy, where I got a big support from my seniors and coaches, Shahrukh sir and Pradyut sir,” said Sahil Bhaskar to Umesh Sharma.
“My seniors also supported me in trials for net-bowler in LSG, and I went for the trials in Lucknow, where they saw my bowling and picked me as a net bowler for the IPL,” he added later.
Furthermore, Sahil also reflected on the time when he decided to move to Fatehgarh and his brilliant run of form in district-level cricket for his team.
“I moved to Fatehgarh for district-level cricket around the end of 2024; I started participating in trials and got selected in U-23. Then I played district-level cricket this year for Fatehgarh, picking 15 wickets for my team throughout the games I played,” he added
Jasvir Bhojgi, the man who brought Sahil Bhaskar into Sher-e-Punjab T20 League 2026
While speaking about his journey, Sahil also reflected on the process of his selection in the Ludhiana Lions’ squad for the Sher-e-Punjab T20 League. It involved a major contribution from Ludhiana’s manager, Jasvir Bhojgi, the man who always had an eye on Sahil’s progress in district-level cricket.
“Jasvir Bhojgi sir was noticing me throughout my journey from district-level cricket to the LSG net bowling in the IPL. Then he contacted the secretary sir, coaches and other people in Fatehgarh District Cricket Association to enquire about me,” said Sahil in a thankful tone for Jasvir.
Furthermore, while speaking to Umesh Sharma, Jasvir Bhojgi also reflected on this process and his observations about the promising pace prospect from Fatehgarh.
“It’s my experience of observing the players throughout my 7-8 year-long stint with the Punjab Kings in the IPL. I myself played my junior cricket from Punjab only. I noticed him [Sahil Bhaskar] first in the red-ball cricket district-level cricket. His maturity and consistency in the death overs impressed me the most,” said Jasvir Bhojgi, the man who scouted Sahil Bhaskar for Ludhiana Lions for the Sher-e-Punjab T20 League 2026.
“He knows when to bowl yorkers and slower ones; that’s where his consistency and maturity reflect. Then we called him for practice and gave him targets like bowling 6 yorkers to a batter, slower ones and a mix-up,” he added while praising Sahil’s focus.
“I also noticed him bowling in the LSG nets when we [Punjab Kings] were there in Lucknow to play a game. From then on, I went further to find out more about it and came to know that he plays for Fatehgarh in district-level cricket. We had very little time to finalise our plans for Ludhiana Lions before the Sher-e-Punjab T20 league. So, we didn’t ask him to make any changes and backed his confidence in himself. The more credit goes to his hard work; we just backed him.” Jasvir concluded humbly with praise for the young pacer.
