IPL 2024: Markram Tips Sharma for India Call-Up, Explosive IPL Form Paves the Way
Sunrisers Hyderabad's South African import Aiden Markram believes Abhishek Sharma's devastating IPL form will land him an India cap in the not-too-distant future. Sharma, who is scoring over 200 in the current edition, has scored 401 runs in 12 matches. He and Australian Travis Head form an explosive opening pair and recently chased down less than 160 runs in 10 overs against Lucknow Supergiants.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's South African import Aiden Markram believes Abhishek Sharma's devastating IPL form will land him an India cap in the not-too-distant future. Sharma, who is scoring over 200 in the current edition, has scored 401 runs in 12 matches. He and Australian Travis Head form an explosive opening pair and recently chased down less than 160 runs in 10 overs against Lucknow Supergiants.
South African team captain Markram called the two "brothers of destruction" in an interview to media.
“Abhi (Abhishek) has made huge strides this season. He was showing some really positive signs last season and what he has achieved so far this season puts him in a good position to represent India one day,” Markram said of the 23-year-old left-hander. "He's got a very calm and level head on his shoulders and he'll take everything in his stride. But my fingers are definitely crossed for him to go for top honors," he added. Joining the debate surrounding the impact player rule, Markram said that in the line-up Adding an extra batter has allowed teams to take a more aggressive approach.
“Obviously, when you have that extra batter in your batting line-up, you feel more freedom as a player. And obviously from the beginning of the innings, the openers also feel that extra freedom,” he explained. “I think we've seen it with some other teams doing it. So I would definitely say that the dominant players have made it and probably created a new brand of T20 cricket that happens here in the IPL," he said.
Markram also praised the team's bowling unit, especially the leadership of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
“I don't think he (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) ever lost it, to be honest. He leads from the front in his own quiet and silent way. It was amazing for us to watch. “But the entire bowling unit has really risen to this challenge of batsmen with the impact player scene this season. They found their own unique ways to try to keep the batsmen calm and to try to find ways to keep taking wickets,” he said.