IPL 2026: Abhishek Sharma’s focused batting session ahead of KKR fixture at Eden Gardens

SRH practice session at Eden Gardens. Image :Debasis Sen

There were quite a few fans waiting outside the Eden Gardens clubhouse gate as the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) team bus arrived for their training session. But who were they waiting for?

Muttiah Muralitharan, the spin-bowling coach, was the first to come out, followed by head coach Daniel Vettori. Captain Pat Cummins, Ishan Kishan, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy all went inside Eden Gardens for their matchday-minus-two practice session, but he was nowhere to be seen. There were some anxious faces as Abhishek Sharma remained absent. Had he not turned up for the practice session?

The doubts were cleared after a few minutes, as the left-hander — the new poster boy of Indian cricket — stepped down from the team coach amid loud cheers from the fans. It will not be surprising to see a packed Eden Gardens give a rousing reception to Abhishek and Ishan, who were part of India’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026-winning squad. Abhishek smashed an 18-ball half-century (52) in the final against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

The cricketer from Punjab will return to Eden Gardens, this time for the Orange Army, as they take on Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday, April 2. He will have happy memories of the venue, having struck a magnificent 79 off 34 balls against England in the T20I series opener last year.

On Tuesday, during the SRH practice session, Abhishek was seen bowling spin at the start. Once he finished bowling, he opted for throwdowns and faced only spinners under the watchful eyes of assistant coach Simon Helmot. The batting session lasted nearly 35–40 minutes, during which he was seen stepping down the track on occasions and hitting towering sixes that landed in the stands.

He did not have a great start to IPL 2026, scoring just 7 runs from 8 balls. In the recently concluded T20 World Cup, Abhishek was not just out of form — he was perhaps decoded. Opposing captains seemed to arrive with a clear script: start with off-spin in the Powerplay, take the pace off, and tighten the angles.

That pattern carried into the IPL 2026 opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The approach was executed with precision by Jacob Duffy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Kiwi pacer hit the pitch hard, with the ball climbing into Abhishek’s body. There was no room for extension, no free swing through the line — just pressure square of the wicket, with options closing in.

Hyderabad’s strength lies in their top order, and this is where the opening partnership between Abhishek and Travis Head becomes pivotal. Their 511 runs in 12 innings last season turned Powerplays into statements. But now, opponents are setting fields and lengths in advance — hard lengths for Head, body lines and variations for Abhishek — with the collective goal of disrupting the tempo before it begins.

Right now, the trend is clear. The game has moved first. Abhishek has to move next.

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The post IPL 2026: Abhishek Sharma’s focused batting session ahead of KKR fixture at Eden Gardens appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.



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