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Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag had an advice in store for Abhishek Sharma following the conclusion of the Men in Blue's Asia Cup match against Pakistan. Notably, the latter played a stunning knock of 74 runs from 39 deliveries against Pakistan and played a key role in India's six-wicket victory in their opening clash of the Super 4 stage. However, Sehwag advised the 25-year-old to not miss out on a century when he crosses the 70-run mark. He added that this was an advice that was given to him by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.
“Many congratulations for your innings. But I would like to say that jab sattar par pahunch jao to hundred miss mat karo (When you cross the 70-run mark, don’t miss out on a hundred). Great Sunil Gavaskar had told me this," Sehwag told Abhishek i n an interaction on Sony Sports.
Because when you will look back at these moments after retirement, you will regret getting out on 70s and 80s. These opportunities don’t come often. So, when it’s your day, try to remain unbeaten and finish the game for your team," he added.
During the same conversation, Abhishek revealed that the Pakistan players were making personal attacks towards him and Shubman Gill after almost every delivery. Notably, both Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf tried to rile up the the Indian batters by sledging them on multiple occasions. However, they ended up getting a fitting reply in return as the duo of Abhishek and Gill smacked them all around the stadium and formed a huge opening stand of 105 runs.
“Paaji, today, I think I needed to do something because I didn’t like what was happening. The words that were being said… after every ball, they were making personal attacks. Shubman Gill and I were talking about it — that we’ll win our team the match and give them a befitting reply," Abhishek stated.
India's dominant display against Pakistan
Meanwhile, India defeated Pakistan comprehensively by 6 wickets during their Super 4 clash on Sunday. After being invited to bat first, Pakistan showed a lot of improvement in the department and went on to post a fighting total of 171/5 in 20 overs. Sahibzada Farhan was the star performer for the side with his valiant knock of 58.
India to take on Bangladesh next
However, the 172-run target didn't cause a lot of problems for the Men in Blue as after a massive opening partnership, Tilak Varma's unbeaten cameo of 30 saw them breeze past their arch-rivals. They reached the target with 7 deliveries left to spare and made a great start to their Super 4 campaign. Suryakumar Yadav & Co. will now be facing Bangladesh next on September 24 while on the other hand, Pakistan will be hoping to bounce back in their upcoming clash against Sri Lanka on September 23.
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