A couple of good Noor Ahmad deliveries did get the respect they deserved – with a forward defence from Abhishek that’s almost a rarity in T20 cricket. The fifty came off a single tucked to the legside off Rashid. And just as quickly he switched back to attack mode – a shimmy down to collect a six over midwicket and another swat to deep cover to make it a 15-run over from Afghanistan’s most-experienced.
There was no safe option left for Afghanistan, and Noor copped the punishment too. The short-ball was nailed over deep midwicket and the fuller delivery next up launched high over deep extra cover for a towering 83m six showcasing his full range. By the time he was done, Abhishek had knocked off 82 runs, seven maximums and as many fours included, becoming the second-fastest to 6000 T20 runs. His 14th sub-25 ball fifty is also a record – the next best is nine by Suryakumar Yadav.
It wasn’t just merely reckless scoring though. Abhishek systematically took down every option Afghanistan tried, whether it was attacking pace, then spin, or even occasionally showing enough restraint to demonstrate that his aggression was more calculated than it may seem. He plucked 28 off nine deliveries off pace at a strike-rate of 311.1, and 54 off just 23 at 234.78 off the spin unit that’s the nucleus of Afghanistan’s attack. More importantly, it was his trademark fearless batting – he picked the length early, used his feet, and punished anything remotely loose.
For Abhishek, though, the significance of the innings went beyond the statistics. He had entered the Afghanistan series under some pressure, his lean patch made more conspicuous by the luxury India had in reserve – the experienced Sanju Samson and the fearless Vaibhav Sooryavanshi both pushing for a place at the top.
Abhishek’s T20 World Cup at home, earlier this year, had begun with three consecutive ducks before he found his feet in the second half of India’s title defence. Since then, though, the runs had been hard to come by. In his previous six T20I innings, he had only two double-digit scores with 16 being his highest. India had stayed with him through it all. In the 10 previous T20Is this World Cup cycle, Abhishek had scored just 191 runs. But the management’s faith in his ability remained intact. Even with three of India’s most dangerous T20 openers vying for two spots, Abhishek’s spot in the XI seemed most assured yet.
The onus, therefore, was on the Punjab batter to repay the faith. And he did so in the most Abhishek Sharma style – by attacking first, attacking hard, and leaving Afghanistan with no refuge in Delhi.
Having been at the receiving end of it in the domestic circuit, Chakaravarthy could only sympathise with those on the other side while enjoying his balcony view. “I have personally bowled against them, I know how hard it is. I feel for their spinners,” he said. It was indeed the simplest way to sum up what Abhishek had just done.
