A golden duck is arguably the biggest insult for a batsman. Worse still when gliding down the deck, flashing the willow, and miscuing to a fielder’s hands. But Abhishek Sharma perishing in this rush-of-blood fashion shouldn’t be mocked. It has brought him and his team success. It has injected dread in bowlers. One failure shouldn’t stop him. All turbo-charged opening batsmen have lived and died by this sword. Virender Sehwag, whose simplicity and clarity Abhishek carries, floundered countless times slashing outside off-stump. Yet he owes a quarter of his international runs to that scything slash. It dishevelled lengths, gave sleepless nights to bowlers. Same with Sanath Jayasuriya’s short-arm pull—his speciality that occasionally undid him, yet never lost its sting. Matthew Hayden was another buccaneer who intimidated bowlers by walking down and pummelling them. Abhishek’s first-ball glide-and-thump is a tempo-setter. The stroke that instills rhythm, dispels pent-up energy. It’s a shot of assurance, even peace. To him, it’s as natural as Rahul Dravid’s full-press defence. It’s not blind kamikaze shooting. It has purpose and science. Also Read | Abhishek Sharma slams second fastest half-century by an Indian in T20Is in 14 balls during 3rd T20I vs New Zealand The fundamentals are sound. He doesn’t throw his hands at the ball or back away too much. The bat doesn’t rotate. He doesn’t hit too hard—no kitchen sink method. His hands are soft, wrists rubbery, head still, weight transfer seamless. He manufactures just enough room for a free swing. His hand-eye coordination makes it work even when he’s misjudged length or movement. Yes, it entails risk—the new ball moves, bowlers are studying him, he’s fresh at the crease. But even orthodox strokes fail. How many times have Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar been beaten through their defences? Or Sourav Ganguly the ‘god on off side’ edged his cover-drive to slips? Abhishek won’t eschew the stroke for a textbook forward defensive. It’s his identity, the phantom’s skull mark on the bowler’s face. Like Caribbean tearaways banging in first-ball bouncers—they might get hooked for four, but they intimidate. He makes bowlers stray into his body, whereupon he flexes them through the leg-side. They shorten, he disdains them either side of the wicket. Bowlers won’t stop preparing for his first-ball advances either. They have wisdom enough to understand he’ll attempt the same stroke next time. Golden ducks are as much part of the Abhishek package—India’s most destructive opener since Sehwag—as the golden strokes.
IND vs NZ | QUICK COMMENT: Why Abhishek Sharma should not be criticised or counselled for his first-ball zero
