Sunrisers Hyderabad Abhishek Sharma is finally having his breakthrough season in IPL 2022. The left-hander had made his IPL debut in 2018 but never managed more than 100 runs a season and had only shown glimpses of his talent.
This year, though, SRH, after re-buying him for 6.5 crore, gave him confidence by including him in the eleven right from the first match. Despite couple of early failures, they backed him and the left-hander returned that by stroking a fifty in their first win of the season.
He has continued on that momentum and is now the sixth highest run-scorer of the tournament with 285 runs, which came at a strike rate of 131. His second fifty came against the Gujarat Titans’ bowling attack, which is perhaps the best in the tournament.
Thumbs-up if you can’t wait for the clash of the table-toppers?
#GTvSRH
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) April 26, 2022
His takedown of Rashid Khan, the best T20 spinner in the world, was thrilling to watch. And also forced Daniel Vettori to liken young Abhishek to legends Chris Gayle and Suresh Raina.
In his 42-ball 65-run knock, Abhishek walloped Rashid Khan for 34 runs in 15 balls, including three gigantic sixes and a classy four over covers.
Daniel Vettori was effusive in praise for the 21-year=old calmness against Rashid and other Gujarat bowlers.
“There was a calmness to the way he played. And it felt like he picked up the length. You talk about the great players and their ability to pick up the length, and as soon as Rashid Khan got slightly full, he latched onto it. I think he hit him for three sixes, and they all were just from the case of extending out his front foot and getting to the pitch of the ball. I think Chris Gayle or Suresh Raina have had similar sort of results against him and not many others, and it was through that style of being able to reach the ball,” Vettori told ESPNcricinfo.
“But there’s more to it than just that slight overpitch, because he [Rashid] has overpitched to other batsmen and they haven’t been able to get on to it. I just thought it was how stable he was, and the fact that whenever he missed, Abhishek Sharma was there to capitalise on it, and when he got a little bit short, he punched him over cover, but he also never missed an opportunity to take a single,” the Kiwi added.
