HYDERABAD: After slamming his maiden ton in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday while playing against Punjab Kings (PBKS), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opener Abhishek Sharma revealed that the whole team, including him were waiting for his parents as they are lucky for the Hyderabad-based franchise.
During the match, Abhishek finally found his form and was at his most fiery, scoring 141 in just 55 balls. He scored 14 boundaries and 10 sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of 256.36.
“Special mention to the team and captain. The atmosphere was simple even though the batters were not doing well. It was a special day for both of us. [Any shot he liked ] If you have seen me close enough, I never play behind the wicket. But I wanted to invent a few shots which were very easy on this wicket. It helped us both. [On his parents being at the ground] I have been waiting for them. My whole team was waiting for my parents because they were lucky to have SRH. [Chat with Head] We didn’t talk about anything. It was just natural play for us. The partnership boosted me up. [His best knock?] This one is very special because I wanted to break that losing streak. Losing four matches back to back was very tough. But we never talked about it in the team. Special mention to Yuvi paji and Suryakumar as well. They have been in touch with me,” Abhishek Sharma said in the post-match presentation.
With this knock, Abhishek made history on Saturday, hitting the highest individual score by an Indian player in Indian Premier League (IPL) history.
The 24-year-old player has overtaken KL Rahul (132 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2020) as the player with the highest score by an Indian in IPL history.
Overall, next to Chris Gayle (175* for RCB against Pune Warriors India in 2013) and Brendon McCullum (for KKR against RCB in 2008), this is the third-highest individual score in IPL history.
The youngster hit 116 of his runs in boundaries, breaking the record of Jonny Bairstow (90) for most runs in an innings by an SRH batter via boundaries. Also, his 10 sixes are the most by an SRH player in an innings, overtaking David Warner’s eight.
Coming to the match, PBKS won the toss and elected to bat first. A 66-run stand between Priyansh Arya (36 in 13 balls, with two fours and four sixes) and Prabhsimran Singh (42 in 23 balls, with seven fours and a six) started off things well for PBKS. Later, a half-century from skipper Shreyas Iyer (82 in 36 balls, with six fours and six sixes) and a final flourish from Marcus Stoinis (34* in 11 balls, with a four and four sixes) powered PBKS to 245/6 in their 20 overs.
Harshal Patel (4/42) and Eshan Malinga (2/45) were among the wicket-takers for SRH.
In the run-chase of 246 runs, Abhishek (141 in 55 balls, with 14 fours and 10 sixes) and Travis Head (66 in 37 balls, with nine fours and three sixes) started off well with a 171-run partnership. After Head was dismissed, Abhishek continued to rage while Heinrich Klaasen (21*) and Ishan Kishan (9*) put some finishing touches, chasing down the mammoth total.
This is also the second-highest run chase in IPL history, with 262 chased by PBKS against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last year being at the top. SRH has risen to the eighth spot with two wins and four losses while PBKS is at sixth place, with three wins and two losses. (ANI)
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