Eclipsing Rohit Sharma’s record for fastest men’s T20I century by an India batter through smashing a breathtaking 30-ball century against Afghanistan, left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma said achieving this at the Arun Jaitley Stadium stands as a defining milestone and attributed the blistering knock to a fearless team environment backing him to play aggressively.
Abhishek tore into the Afghanistan bowling attack by hitting 108 off just 34 balls and took India to a formidable 221/7, as they won by 127 runs to win the series 3-0. His 30-ball century broke the record for the fastest T20I hundred by a Test-playing nation batter, surpassing the previous record of 33-ball tons held by Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and New Zealand’s Finn Allen. “I said on the first day as well when I got the Man of the Match award, we dominated the whole two years before the World Cup and probably just after the World Cup, 1-2 series can’t define our betting department and the way we want to play.
Abhishek further revealed that Gambhir explicitly tasked him with driving that high-tempo mindset from the outset by giving a pep talk in the pre-match team huddle in Punjabi. “It’s our responsibility as a batter to make sure we create that atmosphere again, where we have freedom to just go and express ourselves. “I still remember in the first practice session when we spoke about how we want to dominate again and in that process you have to be fearless, you have to think about the team always. I called the team Soormas, that means warriors.
Because once they are on your side, I feel it gives you more freedom and confidence, big mention to coach and captain. Because if you see a T20 game is mostly about the power-plays, “I still remember once I started when Sky was there, so he always wanted me to utilise the power play,. So that’s what GG bhai was saying – he wanted me to just create that atmosphere and create that in the team dressing room where you can just go and be fearless and play the way you want and express yourself,” he explained. Because i feel when a Punjabi speaks in Punjabi, it actually motivates the whole team, “GG bhai came to me before the game only that I have to speak in the huddle, so I asked him if I can speak in Punjabi,. Soormas are those who always play in their way and win the games, so that’s why I wanted to create that intent in the team just before the game,” he added.
Explaining the light-hearted ending to his speech, Abhishek said, “After that, as I said, because we are playing in Delhi, so we have this line, I think Navjot Singh Sidhu sir used to say a lot, so that’s what I wanted to make it a bit lighter atmosphere in the team.”
