Abhishek Sharma’s bond with Yuvraj Singh is second to none. It’s more than just cricket. After Abhishek had a terrific Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, ending up as the second-highest run-getter of the tournament with 485 runs in Punjab’s title-winning run, the left-hander in an interview with Hindustan Times, had explained the role of Yuvraj in his personal and professional life. “Whatever technical adjustments I needed, it was done by Yuvi paaji… I get a lot of boost after talking to him. Even off the field, no one can get a better guide than Yuvraj Singh,” he said.
Yuvraj has been Abhishek‘s biggest support and his stoic critic for many years now. How can he not let his emotions flow when Abhishek played arguably one of the best knocks of his IPL career? He couldn’t. Yuvraj took to X after the Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians record-breaking run-fest in Hyderabad to praise Abhishek. The 2011 ODI World Cup’s Player of the Tournament, however, did not forget to remind the youngster that the shot he played to get out was not received well.
“Waah sir Abhishek waah 👏🏻 great innings but what a splendid shot to get out on! Laaton ke bhoot baaton se nahi maante! Special 🩴 waiting for you now Abhishek Sharma,” Yuvraj wrote on X.
Whether Abhishek deserves the stick – as Yuvraj mentioned using a Hindi proverb – for continuing to go with the glow of his six-hitting spree is debatable but it sure was a knock to behold.
After being sent in to bat, SRH got off to a flier courtesy of Travis Head, on his debut for the Orange Army. Head brought up his half-century off 18 balls – the fastest by an SRH batter in IPL. His record, however, lasted barely 10 minutes as Abhishek reached his half-century off a mere 16 balls. It was the first instance of a batting pair completing their fifties in less than 20 balls in the history of IPL.
Abhishek finished with 63 off just 23 balls with as many as 7 sixes to his name. He got out while trying to hit his 8th six of the night but got hurried by a Piyush Chawla flatter one and was out caught in the deep mid-wicket fence.
After Abhishek and Head’s blistering knocks, Heinrich Klaasen (80 not out off 34 balls) provided the fireworks towards the end to help SRH post 277/3 – the highest total of IPL. They broke an 11-year-old record. The previous highest total in IPL was 263 for 5 scored by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013.
‘Didn’t realise it’s the fastest fifty by an SRH batter’: Abhishek Sharma
“To be honest I didn’t realise that it was the fastest fifty for SRH and for this year. I just wanted to go and express myself and after getting out I realised that it was the quickest. I enjoyed it,” said ‘Man of the Match’ Sharma.
“I think the message was pretty much simple for all the batters in the meeting we had before this match. ‘Everyone just go and express yourself’. That’s a very positive message if you get it from your captain and coach. That’s really supportive for all the batters.”
Despite putting a mammoth total on the board, it wasn’t a cakewalk for SRH as MI came pretty close.
Tilak Varma (64 off 34 balls) took the game deep with a high-quality knock, comprising half-a-dozen sixes and, towards the end, Tim David (42 not out off 22) tried his best but it was not enough.
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