U19 captain credits Dravid for vital tip
CHANDIGARH::India’s
U-19 Asia Cup winning captain Abhishek Sharma is living a dream. Having clinched the title after beating hosts Sri Lanka in the final at the Premadasa Stadium on Friday, the 16-year-old could not have asked for a better finish to the Asian championship.
The left-arm spinner bowled well at crucial junctures in the final to bag figures of 4 for 37 and the manof-the-match award. The lanky lad credits coach Rahul Dravid for pushing him into plotting India’s win.
At one point, the Sri Lanka batsmen were cruising towards India’s target of 273 with openers Reven Kelly and Hasitha Boyagoda in blazing form. During the drinks break, Dravid instructed Abhishek to introduce himself in the attack. The move worked.
As the captain rolled his arm in the 19th over, he removed Boyagoda and India got the important breakthrough. “Rahul sir was rightly called the ‘Wall’. He has a tremendous cricketing brain. His pat after the final was a gift. He doesn’t express much. Later, he told me to enjoy the victory as it was such a big moment for all of us. His contribution has been immense in moulding this U-19 unit,” said Abhishek, the India captain.
Kelly (62), who top scored for Sri Lanka, Kamindu Mendis (53) and Hareen Weerasingha (7) were his other victims.
Abhishek, who received a rousing welcome on reaching Amritsar on Saturday, said he was adamant on delivering the goods after he failed to score a big knock. “I was dejected on getting out for 29 playing a loose shot. So I promised myself that I would bowl to my strength and help my team win the final.”
Abhishek is a middle-order batsman and has scored big knocks in domestic junior tournaments.