I pretty much manifested this innings – Abhishek Sharma on his mind-boggling ton in Wellington

It was an Abhishek Sharma special that lit up Wellington in the most magical way possible as India chased down 199 within just 13.2 overs to bag the T20I series.

India’s opening partnership between Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi of 133 runs from just 7.1 overs saw the Men in Blue run away with the chase before even New Zealand knew what hit them.

Sharma brought up a 35-ball-ton to command the show while India seized the game to bag the series with two games to spare.

Sharma bagged the Player of the Match award for his clinical show. Talking at the post-match presentation, the southpaw opened up on his innings while also highlighting how the coaching staff boosted his confidence.

Reflecting on his knock, Sharma said, “I think the key was pretty simple. It was just me and Vaibhav, just going to enjoy there for a bit, especially in the powerplay. And especially when we were fielding, we were observing the pitch a bit because of this extra bounce. But I feel the dimensions of the ground, we could use the powerplay and we could use their pace as well. So that was the easy plan. And then, obviously, the way he started the first over, Vaibhav, I think that was really special. And that was the plan for us, get the momentum for the team and then just keep going.”

Highlighting how the coaching staff helped him with his mindset, Sharma added, “I mean, obviously, it's, I feel it's not that, I wouldn't say it's easy, that easy, but it's just the preparation behind the scenes. I would say a special mention to our coaches because of the sidearms; we've been playing them a lot. And it's just, I feel that preparation is really important as a batter. If you see the conditions and the dimensions, that's always in your mind, and then you have to keep the bowlers also in your mind and play the shots according to the bowlers. And that all I do. We had a good practice session yesterday, and I just wanted to utilise it, and that's what I did. And I feel I pretty much manifested this innings, and it happened.”

He concluded by talking about Yuvraj Singh’s message to him, stating, “I mean, I've said this before as well. I don't know what cricket he was playing back at that time, but it's not that easy at all. And I would say if any batter wants to go there and bat like that, it's not easy at all. You can't just go and score 50 off 12 balls. It just happens once in a while. But, obviously, as a batter, we don't go for that milestone. We always want to win the game for the team, me and especially Vaibhav. He's here. So that was the plan, and that's what we want to take throughout the series as well, and it went well.”