Abhishek Sharma has established himself as India’s frontline opener in the shortest version and further cemented his place with a 34-ball 79 to power India to a seven-wicket win in the first of the five-match T20I series against England at the Eden Gardens here on yesterday.
He has also blown hot and blown cold ever since making his India debut after a couple of successful IPL seasons, and was dismissed for under 20 in eight of his first 12 T20I innings, which has at times led to experts pointing fingers at his ultra-aggressive approach.
However, the 24-year-old youngster said his captains and coaches have told him never to change his style of play, and that’s what has given him the freedom to play fearless cricket despite acknowledging the fact that there are multiple top order options competing for his spot in the team.
“I have always thought from the start to be a team player. In India, there will always be a lot of competition (when it comes to selection) in our senior team. But when Suryakumar (Yadav, the T20I captain) and Gautam (Gambhir) paaji tell me to always keep my intent, that was a big moment for me, that when the team wants me to do that, then I can do it,” Abhishek said at the press conference after setting up India’s win over England in the first T20I with 43 balls to spare.
“As a batsman, it can play on your mind if you don’t score runs in three-four-five innings, but the way the coach and captain have managed all the players, even when I’ve not done well – even then they tell us, ‘we know you’re going to win the game for us, any game, just go and express yourself’ – I think when the captain or coach say this, you get confidence and you back yourself.”
Having worked closely with some great batters, especially at his IPL franchise — Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Abhishek credits them for not only improving his batting but also giving him the scope to play freely.
“I believe I’m very lucky in this. I was working with Yuvi paaji (Yuvraj Singh) at first. Going forward, I had Brian Lara, who really helped me at SRH. Moving forward, Dan Vettori was pretty simple, he just wanted everyone to express themselves, and I think that gave me the freedom to play my shots. So obviously, with Yuvraj Singh, Brian Lara and even Gauti bhai right now, they just want me to showcase my talent the way I play and to back myself,” he said.
Abhishek also gave a sneak peak of the kind of preparation he does heading into big tournaments and series, while giving a vote of confidence to India’s new batting coach Sitanshu Kotak.
“I think it comes at the camp only, once you’re practicing for a tournament. I try to face the kind of bowlers I will potentially face in a match,” Abhishek said.
“Special mention to Kotzy sir [Kotak] and Abhishek Nayar bhai. Both helped me in the nets to get me similar bowlers. I always believe that going into a match or a particular tournament, I hope I get similar bowlers that I will get in the match. Shot selection is very simple for me. I watch the ball and react.”
On a good batting surface in Kolkata, Abhishek did not forget to credit the India spinners for their strangle-job of an explosive batting line-up to restrict them to 132, calling Varun Chakravarthy a “game changer”.
“I think if you see the last few series, the way Varun has bowled, I think he has been a game changer for us,” he said. “When you get good wickets all around in the T20 format, you have to have that bowler that bowls really well. It is always difficult for other teams to pick him up. Also, the other spinners, Ravi Bishnoi and Axar [Patel] bhai. It is very difficult for batters to play shots,” he said.