Abhishek Sharma has always had a straightforward approach to his game. The 24-year-old's fearlessness and explosive batting have allowed him to advance quickly in elite cricket. However, there is also a considerable risk associated with his procedures.
After a great spell with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the previous IPL, Abhishek got his India debut in July 2024. In just his second encounter, he scored a scorching century against Zimbabwe to signal his emergence as an international player. Although he received a lot of praise for his flashy batting, he also had a slow spell following the ton, scoring a maximum of just 16 in his next seven innings.
It was going to be difficult to keep India out of the running for very long because they had so many contenders for the opening position, including Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Abhishek could have had to choose between modifying his style and sticking to his natural game because Sanju Samson was also taking use of his opportunities at the opposite end.
He decided on the latter. The left-hander's brilliant innings in the T20I opener against England at Eden Gardens further strengthened the team management's faith in him after he demonstrated his loyalty to his style with a 25-ball 50 and an 18-ball 36 against South Africa in the previous two T20Is.
India got off to a fast start as Samson took on Gus Atkinson to score 22 in an over after Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, and Axar Patel combined to limit England to a respectable 132. Only in the third over did Abhishek face his first ball, and he danced down the track to Jofra Archer right away. He signaled his intentions even if he was unable to make his shot. After that, he hit a four and a six in the same over, but Archer quickly removed Samson and Suryakumar Yadav, putting India in a precarious position.
India was 41/2 at the time, and the risk/reward ratio may have favored forming a partnership and leading the group to success. However, Abhishek was adamant about maintaining his own flair, and the result was pure fun.
He took two consecutive sixes from Mark Wood, who was trying to test Abhishek's pace, with a casual flick and a slash over thirdman. The left-hander then proceeded to capitalize with a four and two sixes off consecutive deliveries after Adil Rashid made a return catch. At the midway point of the chase, India sped to 100 thanks to a six from Jamie Overton that enabled him to reach a 20-ball fifty.
Abhishek hit two more sixes before he holed out at long-off, accounting for 86.07% of his 79 runs in boundaries alone. At that point, India was just eight runs short of the mark and crossed the finish line with 7.1 overs remaining.
India might have been in more serious difficulty if this aggressive batting hadn't been successful on a different day. But there is little reason to doubt the Indian team's improved approach to the shortest format, which blends in perfectly with Abhishek's innate style.
Abhishek attributes his ability to remain loyal to himself to a good support network, which includes Gautam Gambhir and company as well as the coaches at Sunrisers.
"I believe that having coaches and players like that in Hyderabad was a huge blessing for me as a batter. The IPL was the only source of the momentum. I believe that because they allowed us to be free, I always wanted to go and express myself as a child. I worked on that a little bit, and when I entered the IPL, the strategy was pretty straightforward: simply go and express. And just go for it, even if it's the first ball, if it's in your arc.
And I believe that the plan was very straightforward as a result, even for the Indian squad. This kind of conversation, where we have to play according to the situation, or anything similar, has never happened to us. "They always wanted me to just go and express myself, and I think today was one of those times where I just wanted to win the game and thought it was my day," Abhishek says.
And did he have any fear or doubt when he failed? "I've always believed that I want to work well with others because, as you can see, there is competition (for positions) in India for every team, even our senior team. However, I believe it was a significant time for me when captain Surya Paaji or Gautam Paaji would constantly tell me, "The way you play, the way you intend to play...and we're going to back you." The team seems to have a lot of faith in me, therefore I should keep doing that.