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Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opener Abhishek Sharma shrugged off lean patch with a scintillating 141-run knock from just 55 balls in the mammoth run chase against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 12. Upon reaching his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) century, he pulled out a note that said, "THIS ONE IS FOR ORANGE ARMY'. The note even made Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shreyas Iyer curious as he asked for it from Abhishek on the field. While Abhishek looked like he was invincible (barring the dismissal off no ball), the young opener revealed that he wasn't keeping well for last few days.
"I wrote it today only because usually I wake up and write something. So, today I got a random thought that if I do something today, that will be for the Orange Army. So, luckily, I thought today was my day. I wrote it today, and I think it was a good, lucky day," Abhishek told the reporters after the match.
Before the 141, Abhishek registered scores of 24, 6, 1, 2 and 18. The 24-year-old said that his mentor Yuvraj Singh and T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav were in touch with him during this period.
"To be honest, I was sick for four days. I had a temperature,. But luckily, you know, I feel I am very grateful to have people like Yuvraj Singh and Suryakumar [Yadav] around me, because they were the ones who were continuously calling me. Because they knew that I could do something like this. But still, as an individual, any player would have started doubting themselves a bit. But the thing was, it was pretty much clear that they believed in me. And you know, when someone like them believes in you, you obviously start believing again," the left-handed batter said.
Abhishek wanted to end the run chase early
Abhishek and Travis Head shared a 171-run opening partnership. After Head departed, Heinrich Klaasen came in to bat instead of Ishan Kishan. PBKS still had a chance to make a comeback but Abhishek said that Klaasen motivated him to end the run chase early.
"I asked Klaasen, what do you think? He said, just go for it. But still, somehow I felt like in this situation, if I keep going, the match can end early. Because there is no total safe here, I feel, if it's your day. So, that was in my mind. I thought it's my day, and I have to beat the team today," he said.
The move worked and SRH won the game with eight wickets in hand and nine balls to spare. It helped SRH move to the eighth spot.
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