‘Told me to go after the fast bowlers’ - Abhishek Sharma reflects on Brian Lara’s influence after scintillating knock against DC

The 40th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 featured a battle between the David Warner-led Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Saturday, April 29. Coming in to bat after winning the toss, Hyderabad looked to notch up a big total on the scoreboard.

The Aiden Markram-led side did just that, as Abhishek Sharma scored a brilliant half-century. The 22-year-old amassed 67 runs in just 36 deliveries and gave the visitors just the start that they needed in the game. His knock helped Hyderabad put 197 runs on the board after the first innings.

After the game, the young all-rounder came forward to reflect on his innings, even opining that it was head coach Brian Lara’s advice to go after the pacers that helped him play a brilliant knock. "It was a bit low. The slower balls were coming a bit low and stopping a bit. The plan was to just look for the balls that we can hit. Don't try anything fancy. Just look for the ball and react to the ball," Abhishek Sharma was quoted as saying by India Today.

"Brian Lara told me the fast bowlers in the powerplay, just go after them. So that was my plan, and luckily, it went well. The wickets were falling when I was playing, so I was looking for 180 when I was batting. Luckily, we did more than that, so I was really happy," he added.

Fabulous bowling attack led SRH to a win against DC

As Delhi Capitals came in to bat, looking to chase down a target of 198 runs, the side got off to the worst of starts as they lost skipper David Warner early into the run chase. However, Phil Salt and Mitchell Marsh played resilient knocks, amassing 59 and 63 runs, respectively.

As the hosts looked to be plummeting towards victory, Hyderabad made a fabulous comeback. After Delhi had notched up 105 runs in the first ten overs, Hyderabad took five wickets in the next seven to pile the pressure back on the hosts.

Mayank Markande took two wickets and conceded just 20 runs in his four overs, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Akeal Hosein, Thangarasu Natarajan, and Abhishek Sharma bagging one wicket each. After a brilliant performance, Hyderabad won the game by nine runs.