If his poor run — 51 runs in five innings — wasn’t enough, a bout of high fever was also something Abhishek Sharma had to deal with ahead of Saturday’s clash against a confident Punjab Kings. But then how did he overcome all that to manufacture a thunderous innings on Saturday?
“To be honest, I was sick for four days. I had a temperature. But I am very grateful to have people like Yuvraj Singh and Suryakumar Yadav around me. Because they were the ones who were continuously calling me as they knew that I could do something like this,” Abhishek said, following his 55-ball 141 on Saturday.
Abhishek’s score was the highest by an Indian in the IPL and also helped Sunrisers Hyderabad chase the mammoth 246-run target at home with ease.
While Yuvraj has been a mentor to the young left-handed opener, Abhishek plays under Surya’s captaincy in the Indian T20I team.
“Still, as an individual, you can start doubting yourself after a few low scores on the trot. But they believed in me, and when people like them believe in you, you obviously start believing again. It was just a matter of one innings for me,” Abhishek emphasised.
Abhishek, though, did acknowledge feeling the heat as he looked off-colour in the run-up to Saturday’s contest. “It will be a lie if I say no (about feeling the heat).
“Obviously, there is pressure if you are not doing well in three-four innings, especially if you are losing the game. But, as I said earlier, I didn’t feel that there was anyone in the team who was down after losing four games in a row,” he explained.
After reaching his maiden IPL ton off 40 balls, he took out a paper from his pocket that read, “This one is for Orange Army.” Talking about it, he said: “I wrote it today (Saturday) only because usually I wake up and write something. So, I got a random thought that if I do something today(Saturday), that will be for the Orange Army. Luckily, it was my day.”