10 Interesting facts about Abhishek Sharma – The talented all-rounder

The young Indian stars continue to impress the audience. Delhi Daredevils and Punjab all-rounder Abhishek Sharma is one of them. The 17-year-old set social media on fire with his blazing 46-run unbeaten knock that came off just 19 balls with three fours and four sixes in the IPL 2018.

The shots he hit during the innings was classy and found the gaps with ease to help his team Delhi Daredevils finish with 181/4. The youngster was part of India’s U19 CWC winning squad earlier this year and it isn’t the only highlight of his career so far. Here are 10 interesting facts about the new young sensation Abhishek Sharma.

1. Birth and Career:

Abhishek was born on 4th September 2000 in Punjab’s Amritsar. He represents his home team Punjab in domestic cricket. He is a left-handed batsman and a left-arm orthodox spinner.

2. Cricket in the family:

His father Raj Kumar Sharma had dreamt of playing for the nation during his days. Being a left-hander, he faced competition and couldn’t get past North Zone U22 level. He left for the United Arab Emirates with a hope to get chances of playing International cricket. After understanding that he was not eligible to represent the national team, he returned to India and became a full-time coach for the Amritsar Game Association.

3. Leading from the front at U16 level:

Abhishek led Punjab U16 team to the title in the 2015/16 Vijay Merchant Trophy. He ended up with 1200 runs in the 12 innings he batted in the tournament, over 450 runs more than the 2nd highest. He scored three hundreds which is twice the number of hundreds scored by the next best. He averaged 109.09 in the tournament and scored his career-best knock of 226*.

With the ball, he was even more effective as he bagged 57 wickets in just seven matches which is 20 more than the 2nd best. He took eight 5-wicket hauls in the tournament where no other player took more than three 5-fers. He averaged 10.56 with the ball and took a wicket at an average on every 31.05 balls.

4. Running through Himachal Pradesh:

In the first game of the Vijay Merchant Trophy in 2015/16 season, Abhishek produced a special effort with the ball. The Punjab U19 skipper returned with the figures of 17.4-15-7-9 in HP’s first innings to bowl them out for just 59. He registered figures of 23.4-17-12-6 in the 2nd innings as Himachal were bowled out for only 99. Earlier, he scored 136-ball 102 to help Punjab post 321 in the first innings. His all-round efforts helped his team win the game by an innings and 163 runs.

5. Captain of the U19 team:

Abhishek Sharma led the India U19 team that won the Youth Asia Cup 2016 held in Sri Lanka and also led them in the 5-match Youth ODI series at home against England U19 that they won by a 3-1 margin.

He later played under Prithvi Shaw in the 5-match Youth ODI series in England and in the U19 CWC hosted by New Zealand. India won both the series winning all the matches they played.

6. Youngest ever to lead India:

He became the captain of the Indian team in Youth ODI cricket at the age of 16 years and 105 days making him the youngest Indian captain in Youth International cricket. Five days later, he became the youngest player ever to captain his team in a tournament win in Youth International.

7. Record performance:

In the final of the Youth Asia Cup, Abhishek registered figures of 4/37 against Sri Lanka which made him only the 2nd captain with a 4-wicket haul in a Youth ODI tournament final. Piyush Chawla was the first when he took 4/8 in the 2006 U19 CWC final against Pakistan.

8. Steady debut at senior level:

He made his first-class debut during the 2017/18 Ranji Trophy for Punjab. In his debut match against Himachal Pradesh, he walked out to bat at the score of 274/6 after they conceded 729/8. He scored 94 in his maiden inning before falling short of a record hundred. He shared a 239-run stand for the 7th wicket with another debutant Abhishek Gupta.

9. Good at studies:

Abhishek’s family encouraged him to do well academically while he was achieving gradual rise at the age level cricket. He maintained a score of 80% while pursuing Class X in the Delhi Public School.

10. Missing out on a record:

His much awaited IPL debut for Delhi Daredevils was against Royal Challengers Bangalore where he walked out to bat at No.6. Abhishek remained unbeaten on a 19-ball 46, four short of a fifty on IPL debut. He would have become the youngest player ever and the first to score a fifty in the IPL before turning 18.