First call from Shubman Gill to family’s interview: Abhishek Sharma on maiden India call-up
Abhishek Sharma revealed the scenes after he received his maiden India call-up for the 5-match T20I series against Zimbabwe.
Abhishek mentioned that the first call he received was from his close-friend Shubman Gill, who will also be captaining the Indian team in the series. He also talked about the happiness of seeing his parents and family being interviewed by the media even before him. Abhishek is one among the many fresh faces who have featured in India’s 15-member squad for the series against Zimbabwe.
The young brigade landed in Harare after a 10-hour-long flight as they will look to relax and rejuvenate before the first match on July 6th, Saturday. As team India touched down, the official social media handle of the BCCI shared a special video featuring Riyan Parag, Tushar Deshpande and Abhishek. The all-rounder hailing from Punjab was ecstatic to be part of the Indian team.
“I received a call from Gill after the selection, I felt very good. Before my interview, when I reached home, my parents were giving interviews. I felt proud. Ever since I started from day one, I had the dream of playing for India. I knew if I kept working hard I would get an opportunity, but did not know I would go outside India, to Zimbabwe. This feels like a reunion,” Abhishek said in the video.
The 23-year-old had a breakthrough season in IPL 2024 while opening for SRH, who reached the final of the tournament. Abhishek unleashed his explosive hitting prowess to score 484 runs in 16 matches at an average of 32.27. He was striking at a staggering rate of 204.22 and scored 3 fifties. On the back of his stellar performances, Abhishek received his maiden India call-up.
India’s squad for 1st & 2nd T20I against Zimbabwe:
Shubman Gill (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande, Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Harshit Rana