Indian cricket team during second T20I vs Zimbabwe in Harare.© X/@BCCI
After drilling a 47-ball hundred, young batter Abhishek Sharma said he kept belief in his hitting ability despite getting out for a duck in his international debut on Saturday. Abhishek announced his arrival on the big stage as his 100 took India to 234 for 2 before the visitors bundled the hosts out for 134 in 18.4 overs for a whopping 100-run win in Harare on Sunday. India thus levelled the five-match series 1-1 after losing the first match by 13 runs.
“I feel like if it’s your day, you express yourself. After the drop, I thought it was my day and had to take responsibility,” Sharma said at the post-match presentation.
“Rutu helped me in keeping perspective. I always believe in my (hitting) ability. It’s about momentum for me. If it’s in the arc, I believe I need to hit it over regardless of when it is,” he added.
Sharma hailed his team’s ability to bounce back swiftly from a setback just a day ago.
“It was a good performance after the defeat yesterday. We didn’t have much time to lament. I felt that T20 is all about the momentum, and thought it was my day today. Special thanks to the coaches and captain for keeping confidence (in me),” said Abhishek, who was named the player of the match.
India skipper Shubman Gill said the team felt good to be back to winning ways and lauded Abhishek and Ruturaj Gaikwad for their big alliance.
“It was not easy to bat in powerplay. Abhi and Rutu built innings brilliantly. Hopefully, the batters continue to fire in the games coming up,” Gill said.
“Yesterday was more about us not being able to handle pressure. Ours is a young side. Actually, it was good to have pressure in the first game and we knew what to expect today.”
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