Imagine T20 cricket in 2030. The IPL runs for six months. Teams are allowed four subs per match. Games finish at 1am. Now, imagine the team’s biggest hitter playing all 20 overs of their innings. Abhishek Sharma is that guy. He was batting like he’s from the future against Delhi Capitals. He faced the first ball of the innings and the last. This compromise meant he scored at least 30 runs less than he could have. He scored plenty more than most others would have managed anyway.
Just to be clear, Abhishek toinked his way to an unbeaten 135 off 68 balls: the fifth-highest individual score in an IPL match. All along, he wore his familiar chain tucked under his jersey, and a poker player’s expression on his face. Smashing bowlers around the park, business as always.
But it wasn’t. To understand why, let’s travel from the future to the past for a moment. Abhishek breached the same list for the first time last season, slotting in even higher, when he made his scarcely believable 55-ball 141 against Punjab Kings. He went at a strike-rate of 256.36 – exactly 57.84 higher than the rate he kept to on Tuesday. Back then, Sunrisers Hyderabad were chasing 246. Now, they needed to set up a total. They made 242.