India’s left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh made a light-hearted revelation about teammate Abhishek Sharma after the first T20 match against New Zealand. The Punjab cricketer said that the aggressive openers prefer not to face India’s own bowlers during net sessions, which gives a lot of relief to the bowling group.
India defeated New Zealand by 48 runs at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Wednesday, January 21. Team India scored 238/7, with Abhishek Sharma (84 runs in 35 balls) and Rinku Singh (44 not out in 20 balls) scoring crucial runs. In reply, New Zealand could score only 190 runs for 7 wickets in 20 overs.
Abhishek Sharma does not want to bat against us – Arshdeep Singh
Speaking in the post-match press conference, Arshdeep Singh said that Abhishek Sharma usually avoids facing his team’s bowlers during net sessions. The left-arm fast bowler also said that it is a pleasure to watch him bat and expressed hope that the batsman will continue to perform well.
“In the nets, he mostly says he doesn’t want to bat against us. He doesn’t play against his own team’s bowlers much. We are quite happy that we don’t have to bowl to him.”
“It’s good to see him batting [so well]. We have played a lot together and the way he is dominating at this level feels really good. Hopefully he continues to play like this,” the Team India fast bowler further said.
There is nothing to worry about – Arshdeep Singh
India registered a spectacular win in the first T20I in Nagpur, but their bowlers conceded runs on a batting-friendly surface. However, Arshdeep Singh showed confidence in the bowling unit.
Arshdeep said that the spinners made important breakthroughs in the middle overs and he felt there was no cause for concern. He said that when conditions provide more support, spinners will have more impact.
Arshdeep commented, “They are doing well. Even today, they took three wickets in the middle overs. No worries. The wicket was very good to bat on, so runs were bound to be scored. But, when the wicket gets some help, we will see different results in the middle overs. We have top-class spinners.”
Abhishek Sharma breaks the record of fastest to score 5,000 T20 runs
Abhishek Sharma became the fastest player to score 5,000 runs in T20 cricket in terms of balls faced. The left-handed batsman reached the feat in just 2,898 balls and broke the previous record held by Andre Russell, who took 2,942 balls.
Tim David (3,127 balls), Will Jacques (3,196) and Glenn Maxwell (3,239) are also included in the list. Showing aggressive attitude from the beginning, Abhishek completed his half-century in just 22 balls. This was the eighth time in his career that he scored a T20I half-century in 25 balls or less, the most by any batsman in this format.
He left behind Phil Salt, Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis, who have achieved this feat seven times each. His half-century off 22 balls was the fastest half-century by an Indian against New Zealand in T20Is, surpassing the earlier figure of 23 balls jointly scored by KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma.
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