‘It’s very important for a captain and a coach to be on your side’: Abhishek Sharma on Shubman Gill-Gautam Gambhir’s support

Abhishek Sharma (BCCI Photo) NEW DELHI: Abhishek Sharma believes the support of captain Shreyas Iyer and head coach Gautam Gambhir played an important role in allowing him to play his natural game.Abhishek made the most of that freedom on Thursday when he smashed a record 30 against Afghanistan in the third and final T20I in Delhi. His 34-ball 108, which included 11 sixes, helped India post 221/7 to complete the series 3-0 with a 127-run win.The left-hander was named both Player of the Match and Player of the Series after completing a three-match series with 209 runs.Abhishek said after his match-winning knock that the team culture and support from the captain and coach allowed him to express himself without fear of setbacks.“I said it in the first interview as well. We have done it for the last two years. One or two bad series does not define us as a batting department. We wanted to dominate the whole year before the World Cup no matter who the opposition is. I feel as a batsman, sometimes you have ups and downs. The most important thing is that we are together as a team and we have to support each other in these matches. That’s how it is,” Abh said.“I feel like it all depends on my approach before each series. It’s very specific to me, against who I’m playing and their pitchers. How I’m going to use the power play. Who’s going to play the power play, the seventh, the eighth,” he said.“And the way I play, it’s very important to have the captain and the coach on your side. You have to be confident. I feel it’s because of them too. I feel I don’t want to restrict any area. It’s just watching the ball and playing according to it. It’s very simple from day one. I just want to express myself. You just see the ball and hit the ball, but the culture we have in our team you can develop well. dominate and so far it’s going well,” said Abhishek.

Abhishek turns the dead rubber into his night

With India having already wrapped up the series, the third T20I was a dead rubber. However, Abhishek made sure there was no doubt about where the spotlight would be. It was the first time in the series that India batted first and Abhishek immediately went after the Afghanistan attack. He brought up his fifty from just 16 balls and then completed the hundred in the ninth over.He reached 99 with a powerful pull from Abdullah Ahmadzai before a single reached three figures. He then removed his helmet and celebrated by striking a seated meditation pose as the crowd rose to applaud him. His 108 came from just 34 balls and included 11 sixes and nine fours. It was the fastest T20I century by an Indian batsman, beating Rohit Sharma’s 35-ball hundred against Sri Lanka in 2017.It was also the fastest T20I hundred by a Test nation against another Test nation, surpassing Finn Allen’s 33 century against South Africa earlier this year.

India race to 100 in six overs

Abhishek’s strike gave India a quick start. India reached 100 without losing a wicket in the powerplay, their highest score in the first six overs of a T20 match.Afghanistan tried to contain him from the beginning. Azmat Omarzai conceded 17 runs in the second innings while Fazalhaq Farooqi gave 23 in the third.Captain Ibrahim Zadran took a spin during the over, but that didn’t stop Abhishek much. Sanju Samson also joined the attack, hitting two consecutive sixes off Mohammad Nabi before Abhishek cleared the boundary twice in the same over, costing Afghanistan 29 runs.Samson, dismissed by Zadran for 22 off 35 balls, went on to score 50 off 35 balls to get his second fifty-plus score.Abhishek’s departure in the 10th over came with India at 142/1. India eventually finished on 221/7 after losing four wickets and scoring 37 runs in the last five overs.

Afghanistan has collapsed again

Once again, Afghanistan’s batting failed to put India under pressure. They were bowled out for 94 in 14.1 overs, giving India a 127-run win.Nitish Kumar Reddy opened the bowling for India and conceded 15 runs in his first over before coming back to claim three wickets later. Axar Patel removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal during the over, while Jasprit Bumrah produced a crisp yorker to dismiss Darwish Rasooli. Yash Thakur then featured Ibrahim Zadran in the sixth game.Afghanistan were 47/4 at this stage and never recovered.Both teams will now head to the Asian Games.