The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 gives a massive platform for emerging players to showcase their skills, talents and impress selectors to earn call-ups to the national team. Punjab Kings batter Suryansh Shedge, who helped his side post a respectable total of 163/9 against the Gujarat Titans on Sunday, also opined on his personal ‘race’ as a middle-order batter in the IPL. Shedge, however, said that the target for him is to win the trophy, not to succeed in a personal ‘race’.

Shedge, who scored a valuable 57 for PBKS after a sudden top-order collapse, said, “It’s not a race, sir. It’s not a race. We’re here to win the trophy. I look at it from that perspective. That’s the last thing on my mind, progressing in cricket. I just want to give my 100% for the team. So I don’t look at it from that perspective, sir.”

READ HERE: Shubman Gill Breaks Silence On ODI Futures Of Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli

However, it was only the second match that the youngster had played in the IPL this season. When he was asked about the wait for an opportunity, he also shared that conversations with coach Ricky Ponting and captain Shreyas Iyer kept him focused as well.

“I’ve been speaking to Ricky Sir a lot. I’ve been speaking to our captain a lot because I know him. So the only thing they tell me is whenever the opportunity knocks, you have to be ready and take it with both arms. So that’s what I tried to do. Since I was young, I’ve always enjoyed having a challenge. And if I can recall clearly, this season while playing domestic cricket, I think I’ve gotten my team out of trouble as well in the U23s and some other tournaments. So I always like it; I think I thrive in it,” he shared.

“And going forward, I can’t anticipate which situation I’m thrown into. I can just be ready for everything. And that’s how I try to prepare. I try to put myself into different scenarios,” Suryansh Shedge concluded.