There was a huge anticipation about Abhishek Sharma batting in Australia. He is that kind of player who likes the ball to come onto the bat with pace and never shies away from going over the top. And what we saw in his brief stay in the first T20 international at Manuka Oval in Canberra was pretty confidence-boosting.
Being the World No. 1 T20I-ranked batter, all eyes were on the southpaw. He was in incredible form too, winning the Player of the Series award at the Asia Cup 2025, where India went unbeaten. He clamoured 314 runs at an outstanding strike rate of 200 in a tournament where the average run rate was just 7.74! So, in Australia, he was always going to cherish the conditions.
Abhishek Sharma outplays Hazlewood
Heading into the first T20I, the Abhishek vs Josh Hazlewood battle was touted as the best. Abhishek, who has a strike rate of 193 (the best) in the powerplay, was going up against the most successful (43 wickets) Australian powerplay bowler in T20Is. Come the opening T20I, what did we see?
Well, Abhishek dancing down the track to unsettle the tall pacer. Abhishek knew Hazlewood would stuck to his tight lines and lengths but the southpaw stepped out almost every time. Even though he was beaten on length a couple of times, Abhishek looked adamant. He even got a boundary in the first over. In the next over against Xavier Bartlett, Abhishek didn’t curb down his attacking instincts and smashed two rollicking boundaries.
However, his innings ended prematurely as he failed to gauge a slower one from Nathan Ellis. After Ellis got hit for two fours by Shubman Gill, he bowled an outside off delivery to Abhishek, but that turned out to be a back-of-the-hand one from the T20I specialist. The arm speed didn’t change and Abhishek handed a simple catch to mid-off fielder Tim David, getting dismissed for a 14-ball 19.
