13 April 2025 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau): After a difficult start to the season, Abhishek Sharma roared back to form on Saturday, carving out a whirlwind knock of 141 runs against Punjab Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. The knock single-handedly helped Sunrisers snap their four-match losing streak as they chased down a record 246 with nine balls to spare. After the match, Abhishek ended all mystery around his unique ‘note’ celebration upon reaching his first-ever century in IPL.
The 24-year-old smashed 14 boundaries and 10 sixes in his 55-ball 141 at a strike rate of 256.36. It was the highest-ever score by an Indian in IPL history and third-highest overall after Chris Gayle (175* for RCB against Pune Warriors India in 2013) and Brendon McCullum (for KKR against RCB in 2008).
En route to the record knock, as Abhishek reached the triple-figure mark for the third time in his T20 career, he took out a note from his pocket and showed it to the Hyderabad crowd. The chit read: ‘This one is for Orange Army [SRH’s fans]’.
After the match, he revealed that he had written the note randomly after waking up that morning, and he sensed that it would be his day.
“I wrote it today itself,” Abhishek said of the note in the post-match presentation, “because I usually wake up and write something. I got a random thought that if I do something today, that would be for Orange Army. Luckily, today I felt it was my day.”
‘I was sick for four days…’
Abhishek, who previously scored two T20 centuries donning the Indian jersey and holds the record for the highest T20I individual score by an India batter, also revealed that he was down with fever for the last few days, but was grateful to mentor Yuvraj Singh and India captain Suryakumar Yadav to be in touch with him.
“To be honest, I was sick for four days and had a temperature. I am grateful to have people like Yuvraj Singh and Suryakumar Yadav around me. They continuously called me because they knew I could do something like this. But then, any player could have started to doubt themselves. It was pretty clear for me because they believed in me, and it was always a matter of one inning,” he added.
The win on Saturday helped SRH abandon the bottom-most place in the IPL points table as they rose to the eighth spot with four points. They will play their next match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Summary: Abhishek Sharma dedicated his record-breaking 141-run knock to SRH fans with a pre-written note, saying he “felt it was his day” despite being unwell.