So, Abhishek Sharma finally goes past 16-run mark. Following his superb century against Zimbabwe earlier this year, the talented southpaw failed to hit even 20 runs in an innings in his next 8 attempts. But now, Abhishek Sharma came up with a knock that would delight the Indian fans as he clubbed 50 off 25 in the third T20I against South Africa in Centurion.
The Abhishek Sharma show
After losing opening partner Sanju Samson for yet another duck, Abhishek didn’t bow down to the pressure and instead hit a commanding half-century. Tilak Varma, who was promoted at number three, also played with an aggressive intent. The duo stitched up 107 runs in just a matter of 52 balls.
Abhishek was having troubles against short-pitched deliveries throughout his T20 international career as pacers used to rattle him up with rather ease. In the first T20I, he managed only 7 runs, followed by a paltry 4 in the next game in Gqeberha. His dismissals in both matches were strikingly similar. Abhishek fell prey to bouncers from Gerald Coetzee, who set him up with short balls that the young left-hander tried to dispatch, only to find himself trapped. These dismissals exposed Abhishek’s tendency to play hurried or rash shots.
Moreover, his aggressive intent did overpower him. But that wasn’t the case this time as he clubbed 3 fours and a total of five sixes. Some of his strokes were outrageous as he stepped out time to time to stun the pacers, including Gerald Coetzee who had his number in the previous two occasions. This is a great news for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as well, who decided to retain him for a whopping Rs 14 crore.
Abhishek Sharma T20I stats
| Matches | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s |
| 11 | 10 | 220 | 100 | 22 | 167.9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 15 |
