Abhishek Sharma credited his childhood friend and current captain, Shubman Gill, for his remarkable performance in the second T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare on Sunday.
Abhishek Sharma credited his childhood friend and current captain, Shubman Gill, for his remarkable performance in the second T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare on Sunday.
After a disappointing start with a zero in the previous match, Abhishek used Gill's bat, which he considers a lucky charm, to score a blazing century off just 47 balls. His innings, studded with seven fours and eight sixes, set the stage for India's commanding 100-run victory. Reflecting on their journey that began in the under-12 category, Abhishek described his bond with Gill as "beautiful".
“It has been quite beautiful, starting as kids of 11-12 years. Yeah, we are playing together from Under-12. When I was selected for the country, the first call I received was from Shubman,” said Abhishek in the post-match press meet.
Abhishek mentioned that using Gill’s bat has been a tradition he has maintained since his days in age-group cricket.
“Today, I played with his bat, so special thanks to the bat. It happened from the under-12 days, as whenever I play a pressure game I ask him for a bat. It had happened in the IPL as well. Today was no exception as it went well as it usually happens,” said Abhishek.
Two extremely special phone 📱 calls, one memorable bat-story 👌 & a first 💯 in international cricket!
𝗗𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦!
A Hundred Special, ft. Abhishek Sharma 👏 👏 - By
WATCH 🎥 🔽 | | pic.twitter.com/0tfBXgfru9
The left-hander also expressed gratitude towards former India batter Yuvraj Singh and his father for enabling him to play fearless cricket.
“Yuvi paaji (Yuvraj Singh) has made a big contribution. I don’t consider myself as sixer-king or something like that. Special thanks to my dad for allowing me to play lofted shots. Generally, coaches don’t allow a young batter to hit lofted shots. But my dad always said if you wanted to play a lofted shot then it should go out of the ground. So, I wanted to follow that,” he elaborated.
While talking about if he faced pressure before his T20I international debut, Abhishek said, “I think the IPL plays a big role in this (handling pressure). We did not feel much pressure when we came here to represent the country as debutants. Unfortunately, we didn't start well in the first match. But my mindset and approach were pretty much similar – to show the right intent.”
The 23-year-old was dismissed in the very first over for a four-ball duck in the first match. However, Abhishek stated that it didn't affect his mindset or approach.
“This is my game and I will go for the shot from the first ball if it’s there in my slot. If it’s my day then it works out, and if it does not, then I don’t mind. I practice a lot for this mindset,” he added.
However, Abhishek mentioned that he executed his game plan much better in the second match.
“Of course, my execution was better today than yesterday. I was just calculating the risk that I should take in the first over, or whether to play according to the merit of the ball. Whenever I get boundaries or sixes in the first few balls then I believe that it’s my day,” he signed off.