Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler Abhishek Sharma celebrates after taking the wicket of Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Qualifier 2 cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, at MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai. (PTI)
Abhishek Sharma, who has played a pivotal role in Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) reaching their third Indian Premier League (IPL) has a special request for the local fans.
“I know in Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have got a massive fan following here. I would request all the CSK fans to come and support us in the final,” Abhishek said in a video posted by IPL.
The Pat Cummins-led SRH will lock horns against Shreyas Iyer’s Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.
Sunrisers won their only title in 2016 and haven’t been to the final in six years.
The two teams met in the first qualifier in which KKR outwitted SRH with clever bowling plans on a massive Motera ground and in Chennai, Iyer’s men will again start as favourites.
A season to remember for Abhishek
Abhishek, who has been phenomenal this season with the bat, scoring 482 runs with an astonishing strike rate of 207.75, spun Sunrisers to a 36-run win over Rajasthan Royals in the second Qualifier.
Abhishek Sharma removed Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson for 10 and then came back to cleaned up Rajasthan impact substitute Shimron Hetmyer on 4. Sharma also added two catches and they had the game won after 19 overs, when the run rate was beyond Rajasthan.
“My father will be very happy, he was a left-arm spinner. He has been working really hard on my bowling,” said Abhishek.
“Somehow, I knew that if I kept on working on my bowling I could contribute to my team.
“From the junior cricket, I have been bowling a lot. I was waiting for this opportunity. It was not easy, I had to convince my captain and coach because they had not seen me bowling much.”
The youngster also credited his mentor and former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh for improving his cricket.
“Whenever I had talks with Yuvi Paaji about my bowling, he used to say that I can be a better bowler than him, so that thing I had in my mind and he will be really happy with my performance,” he said.
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