IPL 2026: From square to straight - Abhishek Sharma redraws the map

The SRH opener’s 135* against DC was an innings built on a subtle shift in geometry, balance & intent

Till Tuesday night at Uppal, Abhishek Sharma had begun to look a touch too readable. The talent was never in doubt and neither was the intent, but bowlers had started to guide him into a familiar pattern. Deep midwicket and deep cover were two coordinates of concern in recent times, fields set not just to contain him but to expose a familiar pattern.

They dragged Abhishek wider, lured him into the square and waited with protection in place. For Abhishek, the violence was still there but the options seemed to be shrinking. For a batter who thrives on instinct, that narrowing of the map had begun to matter.

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Against Delhi Capitals, Sharma did not merely snap a lean stretch. He redrew the field. His 135 not out off 68 balls, with 10 fours and 10 sixes, powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to 242/2 and set up a 47-run win. It was also the ninth T20 hundred of his career. But the significance of the innings lay beyond volume — it was a smart adjustment.

Sharma looked less rushed, less eager to manufacture and more willing to let the ball arrive on his terms. Beneath the flourish lay fine recalibrations.

That change was most visible in his scoring arc. The arc that once stretched across the horizontal now narrowed and surged straight. Seventy-one runs flowed down the ground through long-on and long-off. A corridor he had long neglected was now reclaimed with authority.

The old temptation was to keep forcing the game square, especially through cover and point. Here, the bat path looked cleaner and the intent straighter. The off drive fetched him 34 runs.

His footwork, still instinctive and balletic, found a new grammar. Previously, he stepped away recklessly to manufacture width and force the square hit. Sharma now moved into the ball, momentum forward, closing angles, and meeting it on his terms.