Made him face bowlers who bowled 150 kmph – Abhishek Sharma’s father reveals how he prepared his son during U-16 days

Indian opener Abhishek Sharma’s father, Rajkumar, revealed that he made his son face bowlers who used to bowl at 150 kmph when he was rising through the ranks during the Under-16 days. Sharma has been in blistering form in the ongoing Asia Cup in Dubai.

The left-hander scored 30 runs off just 16 balls in the opening match of the tournament against UAE at Dubai. Subsequently, he was able to follow it with another blistering knock of 31 runs off just 13 balls against arch-rivals Pakistan.

Rajkumar revealed how he helped his son face quick bowlers when he was growing up and said it helped him raise his level.

Speaking to the BCCI, Rajkumar said, “When I used to train Abhishek, I made him face bowlers, who bowled 150 KMPH during his U-16 days. I trained him like that. All the kids used to say, brother, he might get hurt. I used to ask him, ‘Abhishek, are you okay facing bowlers bowling 150 KMPH?’ He used to say father, ‘make him bowl faster, I’ll play that as well’. So, this is how his technique was formed. His power hitting is natural.”

Meanwhile, Abhishek can also roll his arm over and conceded only five runs against Pakistan in the solitary over he bowled. Rajkumar is optimistic that his son will do well with the ball in the future.

“I will tell you about his bowling. I’m a left-arm spinner and I have played a lot of first-class cricket for India. I used to make him bowl a lot. I used to give him tips, used to see his style and make him to everything. Because of that, he has become a very good bowler. In the future, he will bowl well for India.”

India will next take on Oman at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Friday.