Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Abhishek Sharma plays a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match against Mumbai Indians at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on March 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak
Abhishek Sharma, who scored the fastest-ever 50, off just 16 balls, for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Mumbai Indians on Wednesday, said the message was simple from his captain Pat Cummins and coach Daniel Vettori — just express yourself when you go out to bat.
“Getting that message from the captain and coach is very supportive for the batters. I enjoyed batting with Travis (Head), one of my favourites,” said Abhishek after Sunrisers beat Mumbai Indians by 31 runs. “To be honest, I didn’t realise it was the fastest 50 for SRH. I enjoyed it.”
Abhishek said he was not surprised by the decision to put Hyderabad in to bat. “We were prepared to bat first the day before the match itself.”
“When Tilak (Varma) and Hardik (Pandya) bhai and even Tim David were batting, we were still a bit concerned given the way they were playing. But, somehow, I believe that our bowlers were very well prepared for this kind of a situation,” he said.
David lauds SRH’s effort
Tim David complimented the SRH bowlers for the way they bowled towards the end by taking the pace off the pitch.
“Well, they (SRH) played some amazing shots, nothing much we could do. We had our chances like me missing one (Head). But, you got to take off your hat to someone who plays so well,” said David.