- The ex-cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has heaped praise on Indian batter Abhishek Sharma for his performance against New Zealand. The first T20I in Nagpur saw Abhishek firing on all cylinders as he smashed 84 off 35 balls. What’s more, he got to his fifty in just 22 balls. The victory margin for India was 48 runs which means they are leading the series by one match to none.
- Gavaskar pointed out a large gap between their styles contrasting with the batting of the current Indian opener and himself. “The number of balls I would take to score my first run, Abhishek had already scored a half-century by that time. He is a completely different player.”
Top Scorers Amidst Early Losses
- In the Nagpur encounter, India lost both its openers very quickly. Sanju Samson got out after scoring just 10 runs while Ishan Kishan contributed 8. At the end of 1.5 overs, the first wicket fell with just 18 runs on board and the second, the team’s total, after 2.5 overs with 27 runs on the scoreboard.
- Not throwing away the hope, Abhishek Sharma still kept on attacking and came to partnership with captain Suryakumar Yadav where they added 99 runs for the third wicket in 47 balls. At the end of the innings, India was 238 runs for the loss of 7 wickets after the completion of 20 overs.
New Zealand’s Inning Ends Short
As for New Zealand’s batting, they could not cross the 190-run mark. The performance of Abhishek Sharma was so great that he was awarded the Player of the Match. The next T20 match in this series will be held in Guwahati on Friday.
