Abhishek Sharma's father, Rajkumar, revealed that his son used to face 150kph balls during his U16 days in training. Abhishek, the World No.1 T20I batter, has been ripping the bowling attacks with his aggressive strokeplay and has made himself an indispensable player in the Indian T20I team.
Abhishek's father shed light on the early days of his son, highlighting how he used to train with the help of his family in his early days.
"There was a cricket atmosphere in my house. He was a child when he used to play with my bat. He used to trouble his mother. I have two daughters, and he used to ask them to help him practice, make him bat at night," Rajkumar said in a BCCI video titled 'The Making of Abhishek Sharma'.
"Sometimes he used to tell me I need diving practice and throw a catch to me. Seeing his passion, I thought he could become a player, then I brought him to the ground. The senior players used to say, your son has a lot of talent, he would play for India.
"I used to say he is still a kid, he just learnt to hold the bat. But all the blessings, love of the people and his hard work has brought him here," the proud father said in the video.
His father highlighted that he used to make him bowl a lot and feels he will become a good bowler for India in the future. "I used to be a left-arm spinner, I've also played and I used to make him bowl a lot. I used to give him tips, I used to see his style, I used to make him do everything. Because of that he has become a good bowler and in future he will bowl well for India," he said.
Rajkumar revealed that his son used to face balls at 150kph during his U16 days and wanted to face faster deliveries too. "When I used to train Abhishek, I made him face bowlers who bowled 150 kmph during his under-16 days, I trained him like that. All the kids used to say, 'paaji he might get hurt'.
"I used to ask him, 'Abhishek will play bowlers bowling at 150 kmph?' He would say 'Papa make them bowl faster, I'll play that as well'. So, this is how his technique was formed. His power-hitting is natural."
Meanwhile, Abhishek's father also credited former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh for helping his son out as a mentor. "Yuvraj Singh also has a huge part to play in his making. He spent a lot of time with him, gave him advice and shared his experience, so thanks to him as well. Yuvi has helped him a lot to give him international-level experience.
"Now many big players and many good coaches have joined him, they have a lot of experience. I'm very happy that Abhishek got such teachers," he said.
