Among all the post-modern openers in the league, Abhishek Sharma inhabits a rarefied space of his own. So much so that he is already making a compelling case to be one of the most destructive openers in IPL history, not so much for his numbers as for the sheer impact he makes and the thrill he promises. He is IPL’s biggest blockbuster, the batsman that stops traffic, that fills stands, that forces people to set their chores aside without a dilemma. He is the smiling Buddha who demolishes bowlers. Raised in the IPL era, the 26-year-old is a fusion of all the legendary openers who had revelled in the IPL stage. He has the six-hitting vigour of Chris Gayle. He hits one maximum every 9.8 balls (as an opener); the Jamaican swiped one six every nine balls. They are different in musculature and methods, but both rely on a sweet and high bat-swing. Like Gayle, he glides down the surface, murders anything on length. Gayle beds in before expanding his broad shoulders; he had orthodox fundamentals and a decorated Test career. Abhishek eyes the stands from the first ball, as though he needs the cheer of the crowd in his ears to warm him up. A bit of Sehwag, dash of Warner He has the callous nonchalance of Virender Sehwag. He lives in future, the next ball, unbothered by the ball before. Whether he was beaten or he beat it, he slips to the innards of his memory. All he cares about is not even how the next ball is, but where he could hit the next ball. Purely the destination. Like him, he reduces the complicated art of batting such unnatural postures and complex alignment of body parts to the irreducible see ball, hit ball mantra. If only cricket were as simple as Abhishek and Sehwag made it look like. In 20 fewer games, he has struck more sixes than the right-hander dasher (138 to 104). The averages are similar (29.05 to Sehwag’s 27.55). Abhishek’s strike rate is 169.81, Sehwag’s 155, which was astonishing in the incipient days of the league. The shortest format arrived towards the middle phase of Sehwag’s career. But his batting was a vision of the future, just as Abhishek’s is now. If Sehwag were an opener in this era, he would have resembled Abhishek the most. Abhishek’s serene savagery has set the template for openers in T20. They don’t spend time bedding in, adjusting to the light and new ball, they start hitting straightaway. He has the adventurism of David Warner, his ex-colleague and guiding force. He has a scything cut like Warner, but less fearsome power and more dexterous hands and timing. He has the Australians’ fearlessness, the problem-solving nous. He is outwardly not as expressive as Warner was, but he has a steeliness to get better. For instance, Abhishek, in this edition, has shown his range behind the wicket, an arc he has generally not harnessed. But he understands that he needs to keep evolving for bowlers to fear him. The unlocking of the inverse V makes him all the more fearsome proposition. The only news worse than Abhishek’s expanding spread is that he has started hitting hundreds. He had just one before this knock in IPL, but once the kick of a hundred kicks in, he will be fuelled to score one every time he walks in. But milestones are incidental to his batting. The real deal is how fast he scores, how he dictated the match and how fast he takes the game. He is a fusion of the most destructive batsmen the league has seen, blessed with the range of Gayle, the simplicity of Sehwag and the daring of Warner. And one of a kind.
Abhishek Sharma: IPL’s smiling Buddha who demolishes bowlers
