Tom Moody says Abhishek Sharma can be a real asset for India

Abhishek Sharma stated that he was prepared in case the call came, but he “didn’t know” if he would have to bowl for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Rajasthan Royals in Chennai during Qualifier 2. And while Abhishek had only bowled three overs in the IPL 2024, he bowled a match-winning spell of two for 24 to send SRH to the IPL final.

“To be honest, I didn’t know I will bowl this match but I was very much ready with my bowling because I’ve been working really hard on my bowling,” Abhishek stated following the match. “I wanted to practice bowling with my dad because I’ve been hitting extremely well the past two years. therefore let me especially thank my dad.”

With the bat, Abhishek had an incredible season, hitting 482 runs in 15 innings with a strike average of 207.75. His 42 sixes are the most for an Indian hitter in any IPL season as well as the most for this one. But against RR’s middle order on Friday night, it was his left-arm spin that was most effective. In his third over, he removed Shimron Hetmyer with a carrom ball after he had Sanju Samson caught at wide long-on with his third delivery, leaving RR six down. Abhishek’s first three overs were free of boundaries.

He was the sixth bowler that the SRH deployed in their 175-run defence as the Chennai surface started to give a lot of turn without any dew. Abhishek bowled 20 overs during Punjab’s successful Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign last season, despite his lack of bowling for SRH this season.

Varun Aaron stated, “I knew [Abhishek] was going to bowl today when I saw the starting XI,” on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out program. “He bowls pretty well. I’ve watched a lot of cricket locally with him. He is one of those bowlers who occasionally ousts the other bowlers. He bowls that really nice carrom ball that shoots out of the front of his hand. That demonstrates that he is a full-time bowler for Punjab and has several tricks up his sleeve. He’s one of those who like bowling and says to the captain, “I want to bowl in domestic games because it makes me feel more involved in the action.” He’s one of those all-around players who enjoys playing bowls. Additionally, he welcomed the opportunity to bowl that had been waiting for him for a very long time.”

Abhishek is among the few Indian batsmen who can bowl as well in limited-overs cricket, along with Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, despite the fact that he hasn’t bowled much this IPL season. None of the specialist batters in the Indian team for the upcoming T20 World Cup have the ability to bowl, which has been an absence in their skill set for some time.

Tom Moody stated, “He backs himself 100%,” during the Time Out segment on ESPNcricinfo. “Yes, for whatever reason, he doesn’t bowl as much as he should in domestic cricket, but he still needs to bowl because he is a dangerous force to be reckoned with for the future of Indian cricket. With [Bats] at the top of the order and the ability to bowl left-arm spin in any style, he will be a valuable asset moving forward.

“What sets him apart as a spinner is the way he tosses the ball up and attempts to impart overspin on it. As a result, the ball dips in a Nathan Lyon-esque style, with the seam facing the batter and upright. He therefore bowls overspin rather than side spin, and he has that smart carrom ball he’s been exercising, which is the same carrom ball Hetmyer had and which was a total gem.”