Until the Qualifier 2it was Abhishek’s bat making most of the noise, as 470 runs came off the SRH opener’s willow in 14 innings at a strike rate of 207.75, including the season-highest 41 sixes.But it was his bowling spell of 2 for 24, which included wickets of Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson (10) and Shimron Hetmyer (4), that took SRH into the IPL 2024 final.
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Chasing SRH’s 175 for 9, Rajasthan could only muster 139 for 7.
The 2016 winners SRH will now take on the 2012 and 2014 champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the title clash on Sunday in Chennai.
Offering a rare combination of an opening batsman who is more than a useful bowler, former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody termed Abhishek a “serious package” for the future of Indian cricket.
“He backs himself 100%. Yes, he doesn’t bowl as much as he needs to bowl in domestic cricket for whatever reasons, but for the future of Indian cricket, he needs to be bowling because he is a serious package to be reckoned with. (He bats) at the top of the order, someone who can bowl left-arm spin whatever the format, he’s going to be a real asset going forward,” Tom Moody said on ESPNcricinfo.
Moody then compared Abhishek with Australia’s off-spin legend Nathan Lyon in terms of how the Indian youngster’s ball lands and dips in flight.
“The reason that makes him unique as a spinner is he tosses it up and what he tries to do is get overspin on the ball, so the ball comes down like that (seam upright), Nathan Lyon style, it dips. So he doesn’t bowl side spin, he bowls overspin and he’s got that clever carrom ball he’s been working on, which is the one Hetmyer got and was an absolute peach,” said Moody.
Abhishek, who could score only 12 runs on Friday to take his tally to 482, said he wasn’t sure his bowling will be required in Qualifier 2.
“To be honest, I didn’t know I will bowl in this match, but I was very much ready with my bowling because I’ve been working really hard on my bowling,” Abhishek said after SRH’s 36-run victory. “The last two years it’s been really good with my batting, so I wanted to work on my bowling with my dad. So special mention to my dad.”
