“Told me to go after the fast bowlers,” Abhishek Sharma reflects on Brian Lara’s influence following a brilliant innings against the District of Columbia.

The 40th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) took place on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi between the David Warner-captained Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad. After winning the toss and electing to bowl, Hyderabad hoped to accumulate a large score. Abhishek Sharma half-century enabled the team captained by Aiden Markram to accomplish this. The 22-year-old scored 67 runs in just 36 deliveries, giving the visitors the perfect start to the game. His innings helped Hyderabad amass 197 runs after the first inning.

After the game, the young all-rounder reflected on his innings, even claiming that the advice of head coach Brian Lara to attack the pacers helped him play a superb knock. “It was somewhat modest. The slower balls were coming in somewhat low and halting slightly. The plan was to simply seek out balls we can strike. Don’t attempt anything complex.

India Today quotes Abhishek Sharma as saying, “Just look for the ball and react to the ball.”

“Brian Lara instructed me to pursue the fast bowlers in the powerplay.” Thus, that was my plan, and fortunately, it succeeded. As wickets were falling while I was playing, I aimed for 180 runs while batting. Fortunately, we did more than that, so I was extremely pleased,” he continued.

SRH defeated DC thanks to a magnificent bowling attack.

The Delhi Capitals were attempting to hunt down a target of 198 runs when they lost their captain, David Warner, in the early stages of their run chase. Nevertheless, Phil Salt and Mitchell Marsh played tenacious innings, scoring 59 and 63 runs, respectively.

As the hosts appeared to be advancing toward victory, Hyderabad staged a remarkable comeback. After Delhi scored 105 runs in the first ten overs, Hyderabad took five wickets in the following seven to increase the strain on the home team.

In four overs, Mayank Markande claimed two wickets and allowed only 20 runs, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Akeal Hosein, Thangarasu Natarajan, and Abhishek Sharma each took one wicket. Following an outstanding performance, Hyderabad won the contest by nine runs.