Abhishek Sharma, the Indian opener, claimed that because he lacks a variety of strokes, he only backs his shots. During the first Twenty20 International against New Zealand, the left-hander hit eight sixes in a fast-paced innings that helped the Men in Blue win by 48 runs. He reached his half-century off just 22 balls and finished with a strike rate of 240.
After the powerplay, Abhishek Sharma hit four sixes before scoring his first boundary. The young player said that doing his homework before a game helps him get into the appropriate frame of mind from the start because openers don’t have much time to evaluate conditions before attacking.
“You can get an idea of where the bowler is going to bowl to you or even where I’m going to play my shots if you watch movies of bowlers or your own batting. However, because I don’t have many shots, it’s always about me backing them. There are only a few shots.
During the presentation, Abhishek Sharma stated, “I’m going to practise a lot and just execute it.”
Despite hitting several huge sixes, Abhishek Sharma maintained that power hitting is not the only aspect of his game. With 81 sixes in 33 innings, he is the most prolific six-hitter in T20Is among Full Member teams since the 2024 T20 World Cup. Sahibzada Farhan of Pakistan, who has smashed 47 sixes in 32 games, is the next top player on the list.
As you can see, I’m not a particularly powerful guy, thus I would never engage in range hitting. I consider myself to be more of a timing hitter. Since we are currently playing all over India, I must simply monitor the ball and swiftly adjust to the conditions. I make plans for that the day before or, most likely, anytime I have a net session. I have to support my game as well because these bowlers will be bowling here and they have strategies, so that’s constantly on my mind,” Abhishek Sharma added.
Thirteen of the 35 balls he faced went for boundaries, and 28 of them produced runs. Abhishek found the fence even after the powerplay ended, hitting three straight fours in the seventh over and then hitting consecutive sixes against Ish Sodhi in the twelfth.
“I don’t think the game is particularly dangerous. Although I wouldn’t describe it as my comfort zone, I always want the team to start first because they want to use the first six overs, and I’ve been practicing it before the nets as well. And since all of the teams’ top bowlers often bowl first, second, and three overs [early on], that was always on my mind. And we always have the advantage if I can score [off them] in the first three or four overs,” Abhishek Sharma remarked.
“I’ve discovered that you need to practise a lot if you want to hit every ball or, more likely, if you want to play at a strike rate of 200 or whatever. Because all of these teams always have a strategy for me because, as of right now, I believe that pitching and bowling are more important than fielding [placements]. I have two to three days or even a week before the games, so it’s about the preparation I’m doing. Abhishek Sharma continued, “I knew that these bowlers would challenge me, but I’m going to follow my gut and I’ve been practicing a lot about that.”
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