Sharma credits maiden T20I ton to IPL

INDIA’S newfound gem, Abishek Sharma has credited his maiden T20I century which he scored in just his second international match at Harare Sports Club on Sunday afternoon to the experience he garnered in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The 23-year-old opening batter blitzed to a fine century as he helped India level the five-match T20I series against the Chevrons 1-1. He made his debut for the world champions in the opening game of the series on Saturday and has already managed to put on a good show, two innings into his international career.

Sharma scored 100 runs off just 47 deliveries, the fourth fastest for India in T20Is after Rohit Sharma (35 balls), Suryakumar Yadav (45 balls), KL Rahul (46 balls). His century helped India pummel the Chevrons by a massive 100 runs.

He also became the first Indian batter to complete his century in international cricket by hitting three consecutive sixes when he sent Wellington Masakadza to the cleaners in the 14th over.

His achievement came at the back of a successful IPL stint with runners up, Sunrisers Hyderabad where he also smashed the fastest half-century for Sunrisers, off just 16 balls, as they amassed the highest total in IPL history of 277 runs against Mumbai Indians.

His handling of pressure on the big stage against Zimbabwe is a credit to the IPL. He was dropped on 27 runs before going on to punish the Chevrons bowlers.

“IPL plays a big role in this because as a youngster, as a debutant we didn’t feel much pressure when we came to represent the country but I think it’s always a great motivation once you play for the country unfortunately, we didn’t start well in yesterday’s (Saturday) game but my mindset and approach was pretty much simple.

“It’s all about approach and intent in T20 if as a batsman I show that intent and if it’s my day, it usually goes like this,” said Sharma.

He added that whenever he gets a boundary early on in his innings, he feels like it’s going to be a good day or game for him.

In the opening match of the series, the Chevrons recorded a 13-run victory after successfully defending their paltry score of just 115 runs. Zimbabwe would go on to produce a disastrous show with both bat and ball in the second match for India to tie the series.

Zimbabwe’s T20I skipper, Sikandar Raza blamed poor fielding for their defeat on Sunday.

“The world champions will eventually play like world champions. I thought our fielding was bad, dropping four chances hurt us,” said Raza.

With the series tied at one-all after two matches, the third match takes place tomorrow at the same venue. The game starts at 1pm.

Meanwhile, after he was named player of the match in the opening game of the series, Raza moved level with Yadav to 15 player-of-the-match awards, the third most in men’s T20Is. He is only one award away from the retired Virat Kohli who is on 16.

Kohli’s 16th player-of-the-match award came in the T20 World Cup final, a game which turned out to be his last for India in the format.

– @brandon_malvin