“The best chatter is when you let the bat do all the talking!” was Abhishek Sharma’s mentor Yuvraj Singh’s ideal reaction when he returned to form with an important half-century against Zimbabwe.
India’s decisive 72-run victory over Zimbabwe in Chennai rekindled their T20 World Cup championship defense. The batters also regained their fluidity but the biggest improvement was the return to form of opener Abhishek Sharma.
Abhishek’s half-century, which came off 26 balls and included three fours and four sixes, was his slowest in Twenty20 Internationals. However, the innings’ maturity was more notable than the strike rate.
The left-hander concentrated on spending time at the crease following a poor run in which he managed just 15 runs and three ducks prior to this game.
Swinging his bat desperately, he had managed a quick 15 from 12 balls in the previous game against the Proteas. But at Chepauk, he appeared calm. After allowing himself to settle, he strategically rotated the strike and, once set, unleashed a well-planned attack. His knock of 55 off 30 balls stabilized India before the middle order picked up speed.
Yuvraj Singh praised the performance of the cricketer he has mentored on social media.
“The best chatter is when you let the bat do all the talking! Good innings sir Abhishek keep pushing,” Yuvraj posted on Instagram.
Abhishek acknowledged in his post-match remarks that the innings was a much-needed breakthrough.
“It is always great, you know, when you contribute for the team. And I was waiting for this moment for quite a long time now. I am really happy. I would say it was not that intentional (talking about slowing down), but I just wanted to, you know, spend some time at the pitch because if you see, I have not even played 10-12 balls in the whole tournament yet. So I just wanted to spend some time and make a special mention to the team, the way they have treated me so far,” Abhishek said.
The top-ranked T20I batter in the world also appreciated the support system around him for maintaining his faith amid the difficult time.
‘You just keep believing. So that has happened,’ he signed off.
