Riyan Parag (L) and Abhishek Sharma (R) made their international debuts together
Riyan Parag and Abhishek Sharma won the 2018 U19 World Cup trophy for India. Six years later, the duo got to make their senior India men’s T20I debuts on the tour of Zimbabwe.
The T20I series win against Zimbabwe was a testament to India’s vast bench strength which shall carry forward the legacy of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja who recently drew curtains on their careers in the shortest format. India, after a shocking 13-run defeat in the first T20I, bounced back with four wins on the trough to seal the series 4-1.
A total of 5 uncapped players began their international careers on this tour. The likes of Riyan Parag, Abhishek Sharma and Dhruv Jurel made debuts in the first T20I while Sai Sudharsan and Tushar Deshpande got their caps in the second and the fourth game, respectively.
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Out of these five, Abhishek and Riyan have been together since their U19 days and even went on to win the 2018 U19 World Cup trophy as members of the Indian team. Six years later, the duo got to make their senior India men’s T20I debuts on the tour of Zimbabwe.
After India won the fifth T20I by 42 runs on Sunday in Harare, Abhishek told broadcasters he never imagined he would make his international debut alongside Riyan.
“Last few games it was pretty good for bowling and as Riyan said after the 1st game we all woke up,” Abhishek said.
“Positive was the next match was the next day so we did not have time to think too much. We were talking about this in the IPL, if we get our caps it will be a dream come true. We never thought we would debut together. We spoke about it long back and it happened,” he added.
Echoing the same emotions, Riyan said, “Feels great. After the 1st game, everyone woke up and we were clinical after that. Really proud of the boys and enjoyed it to the max. We opened our jerseys together.”
“We played the 2018 World Cup together and next 6 years we did not play, now we are playing. Doing it with him was pretty special,” he added.
Abhishek working hard on his bowling
Abhishek announced himself in international cricket with a 47-ball century. In five matches, he scored 124 runs and picked up 2 wickets as well. However, the youngster admitted that he still needs to work on his bowling.
“Special mention to Shubman (Gill) and coaches for trusting in my bowling after the first two games, where I did not bowl well also.
“I’m working hard on my bowling and it’s good to have the backing from the management. We all saw (the World Championship of Legends final) and it is always special when you play Pakistan and even more so when it’s a final, congrats to my mentor (Yuvraj Singh),” he added.
