India opener Abhishek Sharma was on the verge of becoming the third batter in history to score a century in a men’s T20I game in the Asia Cup, and the second from the country.
But his pursuit of the milestone figure ended in sheer heartbreak on Wednesday during India’s second Super Four game at the Dubai International Stadium, following a run-out. Sharma, who retained his ICC No.1 T20I batting ranking, was dismissed for 75 off 37.
It happened on the first ball of the 12th over when India captain Suryakumar Yadav cut a short and wide delivery from Mustafizur Rahman towards the backward point. Non-striker Abhishek, sensing a quick single, immediately took off, only to be stunned by a superb piece of fielding from Rishad Hossain. The Bangladesh fielder dived towards his left and stopped the ball instantly, and then quickly fired it back to the bowler, who stood near the non-striker’s end.
Suryakumar sent Abhishek back quickly, but the latter was well past the halfway mark on the pitch. Mustafizur collected the ball calmly and dislodged the bails. Abhishek made a diving effort, but failed to make it back in time. He lay there on the ground for a brief while with his head down in disappointment, while his sister Komal, witnessing the incident from the stand with his mother, was left crestfallen.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who was in the commentary at the time of the dismissal, reckoned it was a needless attempt as he criticised Abhishek. “There was absolutely no need for that run. He thought there was a single there, but there was nothing in it,” he said.
Abhishek got India off to another stellar start in the tournament. He and vice-captain Shubman Gill stitched a fiery 77-run opening stand, en route to India’s best batting performance in the powerplay, thus far in the Asia Cup, scoring 72 runs. Rishad got rid of Gill on the second ball after the power play, but the left-hander went on to complete his fifty in just 25 balls. He, in fact, became the second Indian batter to score consecutive fifty-plus knocks in men’s T20 Asia Cup.
Earlier in the evening, India were put to bat first after Bangladesh won the toss. The defending champions, who beat Pakistan in their opening Super Four game on Sunday, are looking to guarantee their ticket to the final with a win against Bangladesh.