“I always said I could bowl better than him,” Abhishek Sharma says of Yuvraj Singh’s high regard for the breakout star of the SRH

The Sunrisers Hyderabad are only one win away from winning their second championship when they play the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League final in 2024, which is scheduled to take place in Chennai’s M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

Abhishek Sharma, a left-arm orthodox bowler, is the Sunrisers’ opening batsman and one of their most important players. The Punjabi batsman, 23, has enjoyed a breakthrough season, but in the Chennai Qualifier 2 match against the Rajasthan Royals, it was his bowling that made the difference.

In his allotted four overs, he took two wickets for only 24 runs, dismissing the likes of Shimron Hetmyer and Sanju Samson to put the Hyderabad team ahead and win by 36 runs.

The young player spoke candidly about his feelings about playing in his first final in a video that was posted on the Indian Premier League’s official website.

“I’ve been playing in the IPL for a number of years, and obviously when I was younger, my dream was to play in the finals, and we are playing this year,” the 23-year-old stated.

Even though he is often relied upon to contribute with the bat, in the first inning he could only muster 12 runs in 5 deliveries; nonetheless, his bowling ultimately proved to be the deciding factor.

As a player in our league, your first goal should be to play in the finals for the club; if you’re contributing to the team, that’s just the icing on top, he added. “I think it is very emotional and inspirational.”

After all the hard work he has put in during training sessions and ultimately seizing the moment with both hands, the young bowler believes that his father would be happy with his performance.

“I believe my dad will be delighted. He has been putting a lot of effort into improving my bowling. He was a left-arm spinner. However, I had a gut feeling that if I continued to improve my bowling, I would be able to contribute to the team since I had that ability. I have been bowling a lot since junior cricket and I was looking forward to this chance,” he said.

“That didn’t come easy for me,” Abhishek said. Since the coaches and captain didn’t see me bowling much during practice, I had to really show them.

Talking with Yuvraj Singh

During his formative years, the young player received guidance from renowned Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. The Indian great has predicted that Abhishek would improve as a bowler beyond his playing career, which is a high bar to meet.

“Every time we spoke about my bowling, Yuvi Paaji always remarked that I could bowl better than him. I have thus always thought about it. Abhishek said, “I think he’ll be very happy too that I could contribute to my bowling.”

He asked the numerous supporters in Chennai to come out and cheer for SRH as they prepare to play the high-flying table-toppers, KKR for the championship.

The takeaway, in my opinion, should be that we really appreciate all of the help we have had this season. Being a part of a championship squad is always a dream. Everyone is aware of CSK’s large fan base in Chennai, but I encourage you to attend the final and show your support,” he said.