New Delhi: Abhishek Sharma didn’t forget to give a call to his mentor Yuvraj Singh after the youngster scored his maiden T20I hundred against Zimbabwe in the second game of the five-match series on Sunday. Having been dismissed for a duck, Sharma made most of the lost opportunity with a 47-ball hundred that included seven fours and eight sixes. The knocked helped India beat Zimbabwe by a whopping 100 runs and square the series 1-1.
Soon after the game, Sharma called his parents back home before ringing the two-time World Cup winner. Yuvraj, who is currently in Birmingham for the World Championship of Legends, made sure he congratulated Sharma. “I am very proud. You deserve it. Many more to come. This is just the start,” said Yuvraj. Sharma replied, “Thank you paaji.”
Two extremely special phone calls, one memorable bat-story & a first in international cricket!
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A Hundred Special, ft. Abhishek Sharma – By @ameyatilak
WATCH #TeamIndia | #ZIMvIND | @IamAbhiSharma4 pic.twitter.com/0tfBXgfru9
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 8, 2024
Meanwhile, Sharma also revealed the bat with which he scored his maiden T20I hundred came belonged to captain Shubman Gill and termed it as a lucky charm in a “pressure game” for him. Sharma described his journey with Gill as “beautiful”, which started from the under-12 category.
“It has been quite beautiful, starting as kids of 11-12 years. Yeah, we are playing together from Under-12. When I was selected for the country, the first call I received was from Shubman,” he said. “Today, I played with his bat, so special thanks to the bat.
“It happened from the under-12 days, as whenever I play a pressure game I ask him for a bat. It had happened in the IPL as well. Today was no exception as it went well as it usually happens,” he added.
The left-hander also thanked former India batter Yuvraj Singh and his own father for the fearless cricket that he was able to play now. “Yuvi paaji (Yuvraj Singh) has made a big contribution. I don’t consider myself as sixer-king or something like that. Special thanks to my dad for allowing me to play lofted shots.
“Generally, coaches don’t allow a young batter to hit lofted shots. But my dad always said if you wanted to play a lofted shot then it should go out of the ground. So, I wanted to follow that,” he elaborated.
