How a ‘tattoo’ keeps reminding GT tearaway pacer Ashok Sharma that ‘everything is possible in the world’

While he has a long way to go, the 23-year-old has put on view some extraordinary pace, something not so common in cricket.

Updated on: May 8, 2026, 17:32:41 IST

Written by Prateek Srivastava

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Gujarat Titans’ Ashok Sharma has become a household name in India thanks to his really fast bowling in the ongoing Indian Premier League. He has often clocked 150 kmph, and his fastest delivery to date has been 154.2 kmph against Rajasthan Royals last month. Dhruv Jurel was at the receiving end.

And then bowling fast is not everything. Line and length are even more important, and that’s something Ashok needs to work on, and he is working on. As far as the 23-year-old is concerned, nothing is impossible for him. He has the word ‘Impossible’ tattooed on the inside of his left arm, and the interesting thing about that is that the first two letters — I and m — are struck off. So, it's actually ‘possible’. What it means is that everything is possible, not impossible. His motto!

Also Read: Why Kohli looked at pitch after getting bowled by Prince; Manjrekar gives Tendulkar example to demystify his ‘reaction’

“I got this tattoo about a year and a half ago. I was at home and spotted the word "impossible" somewhere. It struck me that I could strike off "im" in the impossible to get the tattoo.

“The idea behind it was that while [working out in] the gym or bowling [hard] or running, [sometimes] negative thoughts enter the mind ki ho gaaya yaar ab nahin ho paayega [I can't do this anymore].

“For example, if I am doing a 2km time trial run, at times I get weary and the thought arrives that I am done today. But then I remember there is nothing that is not possible in this world. Do it. Aaj hee karega tab aage jaa ke kuch milega [If I do this today, it'll pay off tomorrow],” Ashok told ESPNcricinfo.

But still a long way to go!

Ashok, who plays for Rajasthan in domestic cricket, has previously been with Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, however, he didn’t get any game time there. This season, at last, he made his IPL debut.

Ashok has featured in six games so far and has taken six wickets, but more often than not he has been taken to the cleaners by opposition batsmen, as suggests his economy rate of 10.86. But he is not deterred and hopes to get better. “I had a dream to play [at the highest level], and I feel it is steadily being fulfilled. Obviously, the best is yet to come; I am just learning to contribute to the team, but I am putting in all my effort,” he said.

On Saturday, once again GT take on RR this season, but this time at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, where Ashok has played a lot of cricket. Maybe tomorrow will be his day. He has already impressed with his pace, and now’s the time for executing the right lines and lengths.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prateek Srivastava
Prateek Srivastava is a senior sports journalist having been in the profession for two decades now. He started his print career with the India Today Group and later also worked for the Asian Age. In 2009, sensing the wind of change, he switched to the digital media and joined Mobile ESPN. There, he covered the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 Hockey World Cup as a venue reporter. He did plenty of voice-over work too, over there. After leaving Mobile ESPN, Prateek went on to work for Cricketnext, Gocricket and Cricbuzz. At Gocricket (Times Internet Limited), he covered the 2014 T20 World from Bangladesh. There he also received a team leadership award, given at the end of the month. Prateek has also covered the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, this time working for Sportz Interactive. He also worked for Chinese giants Alibaba over two years and led their ""Short News"" content team at UC Browser. While cricket is Prateek’s expertise, he has also done a lot of golf. In fact, he has covered India’s first two European Tour events back in the late noughties. He has also done extensive writing on football having been associated with the Indian Super League for three seasons. Finally, Prateek is a literature aficionado and swears by Philip Roth and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and when he doesn’t joke, he is usually quiet and at work.Read More

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