‘SRH’s approach suited me, I like to dominate and that’s what I did’
Abhishek Sharma finished with neither the Orange Cap nor the winner’s trophy in IPL 2024, but in terms of sheer impact, he should have been somewhere near the top.
The Amritsar lad scored 484 runs at a strike rate of 204.22 for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) this season, and that should be more than enough to make the national selectors take notice.
After the IPL season came to an end, the 23-year-old allrounder spoke to HT about his red-hot form in the IPL, his national team dreams, Yuvraj Singh’s support and his rapport with India star Shubman Gill. Excerpts:
How would you describe this IPL season?
IPL 2024 was the best one for me till now. I put in a lot of hard work in the domestic season and gained confidence.
The confidence I gained while playing for Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy helped me set targets and perform very well. Also, we reached the IPL final and I thoroughly enjoyed playing my shots in the entire tournament.
The icing on the cake would have been if we had beaten Kolkata Knight Riders in the final to lift the trophy.
How did captain Pat Cummins and the SRH management contribute in getting the best out of you in IPL ?
From the start of the tournament, Cummins and the management were clear that they wanted an aggressive approach from the team. The message was clear that SRH had to dominate in every game. This approach suited me and I could go out there and express myself in the middle. I like to dominate while batting and that’s what I did.
SRH finished runners-up in the IPL and the final turned out to be a one-sided affair. What led to the SRH batting collapse?
It would have been great to lift the trophy. Travis Head and I had been batting well as a pair for SRH in previous matches and fortunately giving good starts as well. I think when both of us got out in initial overs to some outstanding bowling from Mitchel Starc and others, the other batters could not put together long partnerships. KKR bowlers bowled amazing balls to get the SRH top-order. After the top-order collapsed, things fell apart and could not be controlled.
You have given a lot of credit to Yuvraj Singh for how he helped shape your career. Can you throw some light on how he pushed you?
Yuvi paaji deserves all the credit for believing in me when the chips were down and I was confident. He told me that I had the potential and the calibre to excel at the highest level and how important it is to keep working hard on skills and fitness. I took it very seriously and just worked on those aspects. Now I understand that a time comes for every cricketer when he unleashes his best form. And one has to keep consistency and momentum in practice and training.
There talk that you are knocking the doors of the Indian team. How do you react to this?
Giving good performances is definitely in my hands. Giving my best and focusing on this is in my control. Previously also, I have had a feeling that I could make it to the India team but it did not happen. So, I realised the more we think about it, the more we put ourselves under pressure.
What is your rapport with Shubman Gill? Do you talk regularly about cricket?
We have that close connection and bond since our U-12 days. Whenever we meet up or bump into each other during games, we chit-chat about things other than cricket. I am proud of his achievements. I have seen him toil hard for where he is now.