How India T20 opener Abhishek Sharma – who scored a blazing 54-ball 135 against England at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday – found his zone
MUMBAI: Nairobi. 1996. Afridi. 37-ball 100. Whenever you thought about fast tons, only the charismatic Pathan’s blitz vs Sri Lanka flashed before your eyes. Even though the knock wasn’t televised in India. Even though AB de Villiers bettered it by six balls in 2015.
Now, Indian fans too can lay claim to another special 37-ball 100 that deserves its place in folklore for the quality of the attack it came against and the purity of the ball striking. Abhishek Sharma’s 54-ball 135 vs England in the fifth T20I at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Mumbai’s throbbing cricketing epicentre was as loud as a Coldplay concert as it screamed in chorus, “Abhi-Shek, Abhi-Shek” to endorse the above sentiment.
While he stopped enroute to the dug-out, turned around and acknowledged the crowd, after the game, he would have been eager to log in to his social media feed to find appreciation from his mentor, Yuvraj Singh.
And there it was. “Well played @IamAbhiSharma4! That’s where I want to see you! Proud of you,” read the post by Yuvraj on ‘X’.
Like father Yograj, Yuvraj has showered Abhishek with some tough love since taking him under his wing post the pandemic. He has told the media and fans not to expect him to don India colours after just one brilliant season in IPL or Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT).
While training him in different cities of India at God-forsaken hours on different pitches and simulating varied match situations, Yuvraj drilled it into Abhishek’s head that he must bat deep and not be satisfied by pretty 30s and 40s.
“Probably he should be happy today. He’s always wanted me to bat into the 15th, and 20th over. I’ve tried to implement that,” said Abhishek after the game.
The transformation in Abhishek’s batting where he married carnage and consistency, despite playing a high-risk, high reward game, came since the start of the Syed Mushtaq Ali 2023-2024 tournament where he was second on the run-scoring charts with 485 runs at a strike rate of 192.46 in Punjab’s victorious campaign.
Chats and net sessions with legendary West Indian Brian Lara, who was coach of the Sunrisers Hyderabad during the 2023 IPL, helped too. “I worked hard ahead of that season and when I saw the results, I thought I should back myself and express myself,” Abhishek told reporters.
“I practised a lot of match scenarios in open nets. Lara had told me one thing – just play your shots but make sure that you don’t get out. I had that in mind. I felt I could hit shots off the first or second ball as well. When you are young, you don’t explore much, but I did that and realised I could play with more intent and help the team,” he added.
Intent is something Abhishek thrives on. He scored 255 runs in the SMAT this season at a strike-rate of 216 including a 28-ball ton. In last-year’s IPL, opening with one of his idols, Travis Head, he slammed 484 runs at a strike-rate of 204.21. In 17 games for India, his 535 runs have come @193.84.
Did the fastest 100 by an Indian record enter his head as he was on 94 off 32 and hitting sixes for fun? “I was in a zone where I was just reacting to the ball. I didn’t even know my score,” Abhishek explained and credited Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav for the ton. “I just asked Surya paaji’ what do you think?’. He said ‘A wicket has just fallen. You can take a couple of balls.’ That helped. I didn’t realise I was going to hit the fastest hundred.”
India play 13 more T20Is this year, but none before Aug. Abhishek will have competition for the opening slot from his India U-19 and Punjab teammate Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
How timely was this ton then? Abhishek’s response was politically correct. “There has never been competition among us – we are playing together since U-16s.
There was just one dream – to play for India. The three of us are playing now. There is no better feeling.”
Leave feedback about this