Abhishek Sharma lived up to his big-hitting promise, as the India opener blew England away with a blistering half-century to lead the home team’s impressive seven-wicket win in the first T20I at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Abhishek smashed 79 off just 34 balls and decorated it with 8 sixes and 5 fours to deflate England’s pace-heavy bowling attack, while they defended a modest 132.
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“I wanted to express myself,” said Abhishek talking to the official broadcaster after the match.
He said the freedom given by coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Suryakumar Yadav is doing wonders to the confidence of young players in the team.
“Special mention to captain and coach. The freedom they have given us as youngsters is tremendous…Never seen an environment like this,” he added.
The 24-year-old left-handed opener, who has Yuvraj Singh as his mentor, said that he knew England will try to pitch the ball short to him and “test his patience”.
“I knew they’d bowl short and check my patience…I practice my trigger movements before the match,” said Abhishek.
India, who opted to bowl first after winning the toss, went in with three frontline spinners, while veteran pacer Mohammed Shami had to continue to wait for his comeback to national colours.
Varun Chakravarthy starred with his figures of 3/23, while paceman Arshdeep Singh sent both England openers, Ben Duckett (4) and Phil Salt (0), back cheaply.
While wickets continued to fall for England, their skipper, Jos Buttler, stood tall amid the ruins with his knock of 68 off 44 balls, but didn’t find any support at the other end. The next top-scorer for England was Harry Brook with his 17.
“It was sticking a bit, double-paced, but the way our bowlers bowled was good. We thought we would chase 160-170,” Abhishek concluded.