CHENNAI: When Abhishek Sharma got out for a duck on debut in the first T20I against Zimbabwe on Saturday, he probably would have been gutted. At the same time, he would have taken heart from the fact that a long list of Indian cricketing legends had a similar start in international cricket. MS Dhoni (ODIs and T20Is), Shikhar Dhawan (ODIs), Sachin Tendulkar (ODIs), the list goes on.
And the opener did not take long to turn things around. He smashed a 46-ball century in the second T20I against Zimbabwe on Sunday that helped India post a 100-run victory.
While the hundred itself is a gratifying feat, what Abhishek and India would take heart from is the circumstances it came in. India had lost Shubman Gill early and a couple of wickets would have meant another collapse like Saturday. So, Abhishek, along with Ruturaj Gaikwad, played sensibly. The occasional boundaries came, but after eight overs, India just only 49/1. Gaikwad had one four to his name while Abhishek had a six and a couple of boundaries. The southpaw, at the time, was batting on 28 from 24 balls. But then, things changed.
The left-hander hit a six and a four of Sikandar Raza in the ninth over and followed it up with three boundaries and two maximums of Dion Myers in the eleventh. In a matter of 18 balls, India went to 102/1 and Abhishek 67 off 36. In the next ten balls he faced, Abhishek smashed 33 runs, including four sixes, reaching his hundred in just 46 balls. Brief scores: India 234/2 in 20 ovs (Abhishek 100, Ruturaj 77 n.o) bt Zimbabwe 134 in 18.4 ovs (Wessly 43; Mukesh 3/37, Avesh 3/15).