'Abhishek toiled hard to make a name in international cricket': India batter's parents delighted over son's success
Chandigarh, July 7
After hitting a 47-ball ton, young batter Abhishek Sharma said he kept belief in his hitting ability despite getting out for a duck in his international debut on Saturday.
The Amritsar lad announced his arrival on the big stage as his 100 took India to 234 for 2 before the visitors bundled the hosts out for 134 in 18.4 overs for a whopping 100-run win here on Sunday.
India thus levelled the five-match series 1-1 after losing the first match by 13 runs.
Meanwhile, Abhishek’s parents are on cloud nine after their son’s success.
Raj Kumar Sharma, 55, Abhishek’s father-coach said, “It is a proud day for the city and country as India bounced back in the second match after a defeat in the opener.”
“Abhishek was determined to make a mark for the past two years. He has worked a lot on his game and the process is continuing,” he added.
Abhishek’s mother Manju Sharma said, “He has toiled hard to make a name in international cricket. It is just a beginning. I hope he will live up to the expectations of all.”
At the post-match presentation, Abhishek said, “I feel like if it’s your day, you express yourself. After the drop, I thought it was my day and had to take responsibility.”
“Rutu (captain) helped me in keeping perspective. I always believe in my (hitting) ability. It’s about momentum for me. If it’s in the arc, I believe I need to hit it over regardless of when it is,” he added.
Sharma hailed his team’s ability to bounce back swiftly from a setback just a day ago.
“It was a good performance after the defeat yesterday. We didn’t have much time to lament. I felt that T20 is all about the momentum, and thought it was my day today. Special thanks to the coaches and captain for keeping confidence (in me),” said Abhishek, who was named the player of the match.
India skipper Shubman Gill said the team felt good to be back to winning ways and lauded Abhishek and Ruturaj Gaikwad for their big alliance.
“It was not easy to bat in powerplay. Abhi and Rutu built innings brilliantly. Hopefully, the batters continue to fire in the games coming up,” Gill said.
“Yesterday was more about us not being able to handle pressure. Ours is a young side. Actually, it was good to have pressure in the first game and we knew what to expect today.”
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza admitted that the “world champions will eventually play like world champions”.
“I thought our fielding was bad, dropping four chances hurt us. I expected 200 on that wicket and it’d get better in the second innings. They got 20 extra. I thought it’d be a close game coming into the chase, but wasn’t to be,” he said.
Raza hoped to see more runs from his top-order batters. “Our top order is not firing. Blessing (Muzarabani) has come leaps and bounce, he’s very hungry. As long as he stays fit, he’ll bowl well.
“We’ve talked about batting for a while. It’s easier to fix when there is a pattern. We came out firing today, lot of the issues came down to inexperience,” he added. — with PTI
