Abhishek Sharma’s record-breaking 30th century powers India to 3-0 T20I series win against Afghanistan

Abhishek Sharma (BCCI Photo) NEW DELHI: If you were sitting in the second row here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday night, it would have seemed like the Kookaburra cue ball kept flying in your eyes during the first 10 overs of the third T20I between India and Afghanistan. It was Abhishek Sharma who brought a dead rubber to life just like Indian T20 batters are used to in domestic conditions and the IPL.Abhishek has set such standards over the last three years that bringing up his hundred from 30 balls felt like another day at the office. Still coming to terms with the carnage he had caused, Abhishek decided to celebrate his century by sitting quietly in the middle of the pitch and meditating like a monk.Abhishek, who has had a relatively modest year with the bat in international cricket, has been a throwback of sorts to his marauding run with the Indian team ahead of the T20 World Cup in March.Abhishek’s onslaught on a tired pitch made his partner Sanju Samson’s 50 in the 35th minute look like a labored effort. A one-run knock of 108 off 34 balls in the 10th over was enough for India to post 221/7 after Abhishek left the park with a score of 142/1.11 sixes and nine boundaries from Abhishek’s bat were enough to break the spirits of the Afghan team. The Afghanistan batsman made 94 in just (missing number) overs and lost by 127 runs, ending their first home series against India with a score of 3-0 in India’s favour.Afghanistan’s players clearly lacked energy on the field as they suffered heavy blows in the first two T20Is here this week. It almost seemed like they were waiting for this game to just pass. But Abhishek was not sated despite his two whirlwind spells in the previous two matches.With the Afghan players looking like they were just rolling their arms and throwing the ball without any intention, Abhishek amused himself by testing the catching skills of the spectators in the stands.Abhishek’s returns in international cricket have not been the best since the T20I World Cup in March. Runs are very expensive for him. He didn’t let the opportunity go by and re-established himself as India’s undisputed first-choice opener in T20Is, even as the buzz surrounding 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continues to grow. He finished the series with 209 runs off 85 balls.

Reddy’s bowling gives confidence

Nitish Kumar Reddy is a pet project for the team management to groom him as the best bowling master alongside the injury prone Hardik Pandya. On Thursday, he managed just one of four balls with the bat in his only outing of the series.Captain Shreyas Iyer decided to give him the new ball as Pandya in T20 cricket for India. The first one didn’t look incisive, but Reddy came back later in the innings with a clear plan to vary the pace and length. He finished with figures of 3/25 in four overs.After his withdrawal from the Asian Games squad, Reddy’s performance on Thursday night will give the team management a lot of confidence as they begin preparations for the ODI World Cup with the ODI series against the West Indies later this month.