New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad star batter Abhishek Sharma has set a remarkable record during his team’s match against Chennai Super Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on April 18. Abhishek showcased his talent, scoring 59 runs off just 22 balls after SRH was put to bat first.
The aggressive opener hit four sixes and six fours in an innings characterized by his bold approach, targeting off-spinner Matthew Short after carefully watching him in his initial over.
With this performance, Abhishek achieved a significant milestone of 2000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He surpassed Virender Sehwag’s record for the fastest Indian to reach this mark, requiring only 1194 deliveries. Sehwag had reached the milestone in 1211 balls. However, Abhishek still trails the all-time record held by Andre Russell, who accomplished this in 1120 balls.
Fewest balls taken for 2000 IPL runs:
- 1120 – Andre Russell
- 1194 – Abhishek Sharma
- 1198 – Nicholas Pooran
- 1211 – Virender Sehwag
- 1251 – Chris Gayle
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad won the toss and opted to bowl first. Notably absent was MS Dhoni, while Matthew Short made a comeback, and Mukesh Choudhary played his first game of the season.
“It’s good to be up from the bottom, definitely. But I think from the second game, we started doing basic things right. Our batting was good, our bowling was good, our fielding has been 50-50. But I think in all departments, we have been doing really well. The key today is to just stay consistent and do the basic things right,” Gaikwad remarked during the toss.
He also acknowledged individual player performances: “Yes, obviously, last game I felt Noor bowled really well. Good to have him back on track and definitely, even in the death, Anshul bowled really well. A couple of guys stepping up in the bowling helps a lot. It gives me a lot of confidence and the team a lot of confidence. So, looking forward to it. As for the surface, in your language, it looks like a belter, but you never know how it will be. We’ll look to assess it as soon as possible and attempt to restrict them as low as possible.”
On the other hand, SRH made one change from the team that defeated Rajasthan Royals, with Kishan stating that they anticipated batting first. “Looks like a good wicket so we want to put up a good total. You have to bat for the team and not for individual performances. We just have to take it game by game and it doesn’t matter where we are right now because it’s a long tournament. I think the ball is going to move a bit in the beginning, and the batters have to watch the ball and play well. Dilshan Madushanka comes in for Harsh Dubey for more swing upfront,” Kishan added at the toss.
