The seventh over from Bishnoi to Abhishek flipped the match, the forecaster, and LSG’s fate in minutes
Deivarayan Muthu20-May-20251:42
Abhinav: Abhishek an unbelievable hitter of pace and spin
Abhishek Sharma is a six-hitting machine. Since the start of IPL 2024, he has cleared the boundary 114 times in 47 innings in T20 cricket. Only Nicholas Pooran (181) has hit more sixes than Abhishek during this period.In a chase of 206 against Lucknow Super Giants on Monday, four of those Abhishek sixes came off Ravi Bishnoi in the seventh over and decisively swung the game towards Sunrisers Hyderabad. After the end of the powerplay, ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster pegged SRH’s chances of winning at 48.66. After the 26-run seventh over – the most expensive seventh over in IPL history – it surged to almost 80%. Game over for LSG. Season over for LSG.SRH were without Travis Head, who was in quarantine at the hotel after having tested positive for Covid-19, but Abhishek almost single-handedly reminded the world of their all-out intent and explosive power.For most batters, there’s an inherent risk in hitting sixes. But Abhishek isn’t most batters – he has stripped his game down to hitting sixes – with or without Head.”No (didn’t change anything),” Abhishek said after winning the Player-of-the-Match award. “If we would have been batting first, I would have had some other plans but obviously when you’re chasing 200, then you have to use the powerplay and then go from the first ball. And that was the plan – me and Atharva [Taide] had a chat about that. If it’s going to be the first ball, we will see and just knock it around.”If you ask any of the player who is playing international (cricket), probably playing for the last ten years, they would say if you chase 200 something, your powerplay has to be good and you should win the powerplay. That was in my mind and every time you are chasing 200, just wanted to express myself and obviously if I do well, it’s going to go well for the team.”ESPNcricinfo LtdIt went swimmingly well for SRH, despite the early dismissal of Taide, who had replaced Head at the top. Abhishek claimed 35 of the 72 runs SRH had scored in the powerplay, but then LSG had also maximised their powerplay earlier in the day, charging to 69 for 0.Abhishek pulled the trigger in the seventh, facing four balls from Bishnoi and firing all four over the boundary. The wristspinner seemed to be operating with a sound plan: hide wrong’uns away from the left-handed Abhishek, with his sharp angle from over the wicket taking it further away from the batter. Abhishek, though, dismantled Bishnoi’s best-laid plans with his immense reach and unfettered bat-swing, reminiscent of his idol Yuvraj Singh.Related
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Bishnoi had protection at long-off, but Abhishek cleared him with his first hit. The next was tonked over long-on and the third, which was pumped over Bishnoi’s head brought him an 18-ball half-century.Abhishek forced Bishnoi into veering away from his plan and bowl into the pitch and on the stumps. He was ready on the back foot for the variation in line and length, and also had some luck go his way, with his pull eluding Pooran at the midwicket boundary. Just like that, Abhishek changed the game in four balls. His coach Daniel Vettori wasn’t surprised one bit.”I think we’re probably used to it,” Vettori said after SRH chased their target with ten balls and six wickets to spare. “He has been incredible and the big challenge for any team is when he gets through the early stages of his innings and plays spin. Once again tonight, he was exceptional against the spinners and his strike rate is out of this world. So, we know that whenever the opportunity presents itself, he normally takes it on and normally is very successful.”In IPL 2024, Abhishek had nearly killed off a chase against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with a 27-run over off Mukesh Choudhary in the powerplay. Very few batters around the world have the ability to change games in an over against both pace and spin in T20 cricket.They say batters hit their peak in their late 20s or early 30s, but at 24 Abhishek has already pushed T20 batting to the stuff of dreams. It’s scary to think how good he could be in the years to come.
