Just a day after getting out for a four-ball duck in his T20I debut, Abhishek Sharma bounced back strongly. He slammed a century in the 2nd T20I of the series against Zimbabwe. The left-handed batsman showed intent from the first ball and opened his account with a six. There was no stopping him after that, and he reached a brilliant 100 off 47 balls.
Abhishek’s knock included 8 sixes and 7 boundaries. He batted with a strike rate of 212.77. This performance makes him a strong contender to retain his spot when the regulars return. Abhishek has worked hard in domestic cricket and the IPL, earning his well-deserved century. Let’s look at his cricketing journey and learn more about him.
Abhishek first came into prominence in 2016 when he was named captain of the India U-19 cricket team. He was picked ahead of players like Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill. Under his leadership, India won the Asia Cup.
However, he couldn’t retain the captaincy for the 2018 U-19 World Cup. Prithvi Shaw led the team to a title victory, assisted by Shubman Gill. Abhishek was part of the winning squad, scoring 78 runs and taking 6 wickets in six matches.
Delhi Capitals picked the all-rounder in the IPL 2018 mega-auction for Rs 55 lakh. He made a memorable debut at age 17 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, scoring 46 off just 19 balls. Delhi traded him to Sunrisers Hyderabad in exchange for Shikhar Dhawan before IPL 2019.
Abhishek played 3 matches in 2019, 8 matches in 2020, and 8 matches in 2021. Yuvraj Singh began working with the Punjab cricket team players, and his mentorship greatly benefited Abhishek.
In the IPL 2022 mega-auction, SRH spent a huge sum of Rs 6.5 crore on Abhishek. He breached the 400-run mark for the first time, scoring 426 runs in IPL 2022. He followed this up with 226 runs in 11 matches in 2023.
Abhishek had his best-ever season in IPL 2024, scoring 484 runs with a strike rate of 204.22. His impressive performance earned him his maiden India call-up for the Zimbabwe T20Is. After a duck in the first game, Abhishek showed it was just a hiccup and proved he is here to stay.