Abhishek Sharma – Confidence Extraordinaire
Abhishek Sharma’s exploits in the game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore put the cricketing fraternity on the edge of their seats. He’s a hard-hitting middle-order batsman who also bowls accurate left-arm spin, and Abhishek impressed from the first ball by hitting RCB’s Mohammed Siraj for a boundary over mid-off. It was the first ball he faced in the VIVO IPL, and it was that particular ball that put his supreme confidence on display for the world to see. His onslaught continued and in the next over, the teenager took on Tim Southee and lofted him for two sixes and a four. His first six of Southee was a copybook straight six over the bowler’s head, and probably the shot of the match.
Making his VIVO IPL debut at 17, the U-19 World Cup player from Punjab, was a picture of calm as he stood and delivered a 19-ball 46 not out. Sharma had led India to victory in the U-19 Asia Cup in 2016, before being replaced as captain by his DD teammate Prithvi Shaw ahead of the 2018 U-19 World Cup.
Abhishek first caught attention when he hit a hundred on U-19 debut for Punjab in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy. Abhishek scored 202 runs in six innings in the 2017-18 season for Punjab, which included a magnificent 94 against Himachal Pradesh in Dharamsala. During the U-19 World Cup Sharma’s bowling was put to good use as he picked up six wickets at an economy rate of 3.91 from six games. He also scored a fifty in the quarterfinal against Bangladesh to help the team post a match-winning score of 265 runs.
He was picked up by DD at the auctions for Rs 55 lakh. The young lad’s shot selection and execution in his first VIVO IPL game speaks volumes of the outrageous talent he possesses. He looked at ease and had a certain element of calmness and confidence to his game. With two more games to go, he’d love to make his mark with more of the same.
Sandeep Lamichhane – The Pride of Nepal
Sandeep Lamichhane became the second youngest overseas player to make his debut in the VIVO IPL. At 17 years and 283 days, he is second only to Kings XI Punjab’s Afghani spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman, who made his debut at 17 years and 11 days. He also became the first player from Nepal to play in the VIVO IPL. History indeed!
It was a proud moment for Lamichhane when DD coach and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting handed him his cap. Sandeep was handed the new ball by captain Shreyas Iyer, which shows the faith that the skipper has in the youngster. He repaid the faith with figures of 4-0-25-1. His first IPL wicket came in the form of Parthiv Patel, whom he trapped leg before in his second over.
Later, he was up against two of the best batsmen in world cricket, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, and Sandeep bowled his heart out to keep the runs at bay. He bowled an economical spell (6.25) and impressed one and all. “It was a great opportunity bowling against the top two batsmen in the world. I got to learn a lot from them. I really enjoyed bowling to them,” Lamichhane said in an interview.
The teenage spin prodigy had made his national team debut at 16 and was also Nepal's highest wicket-taker at the 2016 Under-19 World Cup. Later, he put in a Player of the Tournament performance in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2, claiming a staggering 17 wickets in 6 games. He brought that form to the ICC World Cup Qualifiers and then the VIVO IPL, and he’ll want to keep that going. “It has been very good the last 1-1/2 months here, I learnt a lot of things. We have got an exceptional coach and a good captain. All players are very good. I have been very lucky so far; this moment never comes easily. I still have a long way to go, I still have to do a lot of hard work,” said Lamichhane.
With his mental resolve and his work ethic, the pride of Nepal could still do wonders in the next couple games.
Abhishek Sharma – Confidence Extraordinaire
Abhishek Sharma’s exploits in the game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore put the cricketing fraternity on the edge of their seats. He’s a hard-hitting middle-order batsman who also bowls accurate left-arm spin, and Abhishek impressed from the first ball by hitting RCB’s Mohammed Siraj for a boundary over mid-off. It was the first ball he faced in the VIVO IPL, and it was that particular ball that put his supreme confidence on display for the world to see. His onslaught continued and in the next over, the teenager took on Tim Southee and lofted him for two sixes and a four. His first six of Southee was a copybook straight six over the bowler’s head, and probably the shot of the match.
Making his VIVO IPL debut at 17, the U-19 World Cup player from Punjab, was a picture of calm as he stood and delivered a 19-ball 46 not out. Sharma had led India to victory in the U-19 Asia Cup in 2016, before being replaced as captain by his DD teammate Prithvi Shaw ahead of the 2018 U-19 World Cup.
Abhishek first caught attention when he hit a hundred on U-19 debut for Punjab in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy. Abhishek scored 202 runs in six innings in the 2017-18 season for Punjab, which included a magnificent 94 against Himachal Pradesh in Dharamsala. During the U-19 World Cup Sharma’s bowling was put to good use as he picked up six wickets at an economy rate of 3.91 from six games. He also scored a fifty in the quarterfinal against Bangladesh to help the team post a match-winning score of 265 runs.
He was picked up by DD at the auctions for Rs 55 lakh. The young lad’s shot selection and execution in his first VIVO IPL game speaks volumes of the outrageous talent he possesses. He looked at ease and had a certain element of calmness and confidence to his game. With two more games to go, he’d love to make his mark with more of the same.
Sandeep Lamichhane – The Pride of Nepal
Sandeep Lamichhane became the second youngest overseas player to make his debut in the VIVO IPL. At 17 years and 283 days, he is second only to Kings XI Punjab’s Afghani spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman, who made his debut at 17 years and 11 days. He also became the first player from Nepal to play in the VIVO IPL. History indeed!
It was a proud moment for Lamichhane when DD coach and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting handed him his cap. Sandeep was handed the new ball by captain Shreyas Iyer, which shows the faith that the skipper has in the youngster. He repaid the faith with figures of 4-0-25-1. His first IPL wicket came in the form of Parthiv Patel, whom he trapped leg before in his second over.
Later, he was up against two of the best batsmen in world cricket, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, and Sandeep bowled his heart out to keep the runs at bay. He bowled an economical spell (6.25) and impressed one and all. “It was a great opportunity bowling against the top two batsmen in the world. I got to learn a lot from them. I really enjoyed bowling to them,” Lamichhane said in an interview.
The teenage spin prodigy had made his national team debut at 16 and was also Nepal's highest wicket-taker at the 2016 Under-19 World Cup. Later, he put in a Player of the Tournament performance in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2, claiming a staggering 17 wickets in 6 games. He brought that form to the ICC World Cup Qualifiers and then the VIVO IPL, and he’ll want to keep that going. “It has been very good the last 1-1/2 months here, I learnt a lot of things. We have got an exceptional coach and a good captain. All players are very good. I have been very lucky so far; this moment never comes easily. I still have a long way to go, I still have to do a lot of hard work,” said Lamichhane.
With his mental resolve and his work ethic, the pride of Nepal could still do wonders in the next couple games.
