Intent meets precision as Abhishek sparkles in the Melbourne gloom

Before the start of the second T20I at the MCG, cameras caught the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head talking to each other. You would pay anything to be a fly on the wall when these two mad geniuses of T20 talk, but all you will get is a laugh, and not insights into their games.

"Yeah, I was trying because I knew that he's not going to give me anything [by way of tips on how to bat in these conditions]," Abhishek said about the interaction, "because he's the kind of batter that doesn't think too much. And still I was asking him a bit regarding the pitches and how they are gonna play.

"He was like, just go and enjoy. And that's the thing he's been doing in SRH as well. So I knew that he's gonna answer me this, but still I wanted to hear from him."

It wasn't quite an enjoyable night for batters generally, as Josh Hazlewood put on a clinic in his analysis of 4-0-13-3 and India still managed to take six wickets in their defence of a measly 125.

Abhishesk and Head were the only batters who struck at over 180 for an innings of a reasonable length, while Mitchell Marsh went at 176.92. It is fair to say that apart from the trio, all other batters struggled on the early-season MCG pitch.

Abhishek's batting, though, stood out further for it was a solo effort that kept India in the game even though he was isolated for long periods. In the first 17 overs of India's innings, Abhishek managed to face only 28 balls, but scored 53 of their 110 runs. In the first 10 overs, four of which were bowled by Hazlewood, Abhishek hit all eight of India's boundaries. In all, he hit 10 of their 15 boundaries.

The lack of strike was one of those things India couldn't have avoided easily. No one other than Abhishek was able to work the ball around with ease, and India lost five wickets early. The only partnership India put together was between Abhishek and Harshit Rana, of whom the latter can be forgiven for not being able to put Abhishek back on strike against high-quality bowling in testing conditions; during their 47-ball stand of 56, Abhishek only got to face 14 balls.

However, this innings of Abhishek will remain a positive for India on a night when they lost yet another toss, but might have misread the conditions in wanting to bat first anyway, playing more spin than pace. Varun Chakravarthy might have further cemented himself as India's No. T20I spinner with figures of 4-0-23-1 even in these conditions. Nothing will please them as much as Abhishek, though.

Conditions in the IPL are geared towards maximise scoring, and before this tour Abhishek's international cricket had mostly been played in batting-friendly conditions. Here, though, he outshone everyone else, who were made to hop around by the generous seam and bounce on offer.

Abhishek didn't dial back his intent even for one second. This was high-precision attacking batting, which comes from a lot of training just to do that. Abhishek spoke about the hard work that had gone into building this T20 game, once he saw that his conventional game was not getting him into the best combination at the highest level.

"It is not usual [this seemingly high-risk game]," Abhishek said. "but with ups and downs in my batting for a fair amount of time, even I was confused. I saw even in the IPL, openers were so consistent. Obviously if you have to take that competition on, you have to do something exceptional.

"I felt I could work on my ability to play my shots. I try to execute my shots using my awareness of the field. In the nets, or when I am at home, my focus is to bat with a field in mind. Also I try to play different bowlers all the time, and not similar bowlers. And then the only motive is: play my shots without getting out. That training has helped me a lot."