HARARE (Reuters) - India appear to have unearthed a long-term Twenty20 prospect in opener Abhishek Sharma and the secret to getting the best out of him looks simple enough too - just let him borrow a bat from teammate Shubman Gill.
Gill, Abhishek and Yashasvi Jaiswal are vying to fill the two opening slots vacated by Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli when they quit T20 Internationals after winning the World Cup last month.
Gill has been put in charge of a second-string India squad for a five-match T20 series in Zimbabwe, which stands level at 1-1 after Abhishek's scintillating hundred secured their comprehensive victory in the second match on Sunday.
The 23-year-old broke into the squad after impressing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he scored at a strike rate of 204, smacking 42 sixes in 16 innings.
The lefthander had a four-ball duck in his India debut in the first T20 against Zimbabwe but put on a show on Sunday when he smacked eight sixes in his 100 off 47 balls.
Named Player of the Match, Abhishek revealed he played with a bat he had borrowed from Gill, a close friend from their early cricketing days.
"We started together and our ultimate aim was to represent the country," he told reporters.
"This has happened from our under-12 days, I'd say. Whenever there was a pressure game, or a match where I thought I must perform, I used his bat.
"Even in the IPL also, I usually ask for a bat from him. Today he gave me his bat, and it went really well."
Abhishek's power-hitting prowess was on full display when on 82 he smashed Wellington Masakadza for three successive sixes to bring up his hundred before falling to the next ball.
Abhishek has a take-no-prisoners approach to batting and has forged a formidable opening pairing with Australia's Travis Head at Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
"T20 is all about approach and intent," he said. "As a batsman, I have the intent and if it's my day, it usually goes like this."
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Peter Rutherford)
