Chennai, Feb 26 (IANS) After hitting a blazing 55 as India posted a massive 256/4 against Zimbabwe in their Super Eight clash at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma said he was waiting to have this moment in the tournament for quite a long time now and felt elated on making big runs for the defending champions.
Abhishek had made three ducks in the league stage and even missed the clash against Namibia due to a stomach infection needing hospitalisation in New Delhi. But his making a fifty off 26 – his first half-century in the T20 World Cup - will do him a world of good in India’s quest to enter the semi-finals.
“It’s always great when you contribute to the team, and I was waiting for this moment for quite a long time now, so finally it’s happening. I’m really happy. I would say it wasn’t that intentional (about slowing down), but I just wanted to spend some time at the pitch because if you see, I haven’t even played 10-12 balls in the whole tournament yet,” he told the broadcasters in the mid-innings chat.
He also credited the Indian team for backing him to come good. “So I just wanted to spend some time and make a special mention to the team, the way they’ve treated me so far. It was like, at the end, you wouldn’t feel that I wasn’t scoring runs for the team.
“I mean, in the practice sessions and hotels as well, they all were just waiting for this moment, and they all were just reminding me that, ‘You have done this before as well, and your time is not so far. You just keep believing.’ So that’s happened,” added Abhishek.
Asked if India’s innings at the back-end felt like a video game, Abhishek said, “Of course. I mean, the way they have finished the innings, I feel the intent is back, the way they wanted, and played the whole year. I mean, that was the plan we decided yesterday, as well as a batting unit that, if we feel that we have faced enough balls or maybe we have seen enough balls, just go out and express yourself.
“I mean, it wasn’t going so far that well, but that was the plan we had yesterday and the day before as well at the practice sessions. As a batter and a batting unit, we have to go and express ourselves. That’s how we were playing the whole year, and that’s how we’re going to back each other,” he concluded.
