SRH BATTER’S CONFESSION
Team management's message to go out and express yourself worked wonders, says: Abhishek Sharma More than just a cricketer The story of Nandre Burger's dual pursuit of education and sports
Being given the freedom to go out and express was the key factor in Sunrisers Hyderabad's record-shattering batting performance against Mumbai Indians, said the home side's batter Abhishek Sharma.
Records tumbled as SRH batters went on the rampage against Mumbai Indians to post the highest IPL total of 277 for 3 and then winning the match by 31 runs on Wednesday night.
It was scintillating exhibition of power-hitting from SRH opener Travis Head (62 off 24) and number three Sharma (63 off 23) with the latter registering his team's record for the fastest fifty in IPL.
Heinrich Klaasen (80 not out off 34 balls) provided the fireworks towards the end to help SRH break an 11-year-old record. The previous highest total in IPL was 263 for 5 scored by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013.
"To be honest I didn't realise that it was the fastest fifty for SRH and for this year. I just wanted to go and express myself and after getting out I realised that it was the quickest.
I enjoyed it," said 'Man of the Match' Sharma.
"I think the message was pretty much simple for all the batters in the meeting we had before this match.
'Everyone just go and express yourself'. That's a very positive message if you get it from your captain and coach. That's really supportive for all the batters."
Sharma and Head stitched 68 runs off just 22 balls for the second wicket for SRH.
"I was batting with Travis and he is one of my favourite batters. I really enjoyed batting with him," Sharma said.
Sharma said despite putting a mammoth total on the board, it wasn't a cakewalk for SRH as MI came pretty close.
Tilak Varma (64 off 34 balls) took the game deep with a high-quality knock, comprising half-a-dozen sixes and, towards the end, Tim David (42 not out off 22) tried his best but it was not enough.
South African left-arm fast bowler Nandre Burger never aspired to be a cricketer but chose to take up the sport as it was a free way to study.
In 2014, it was through a cricket trial that Burger got admission to University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) with a full scholarship to pursue a psychology major. He has never looked back since.
Burger, 28, now is an allformat pacer for South Africa, having made his national team debut in December last year.
His performances for South Africa earned him a Rs 50 lakh contract with Rajasthan Royals. He also played for Joburg Super Kings in SA20 last month.
"Sounds strange, right. WITS offered a scholarship for those who played cricket. I thought it was cool. I didn't want to be a cricketer, but I was getting a free way to study, so I thought, why not? Cricket was actually my back-up to academics
Sounds strange, right. WITS offered a scholarship for those who played cricket. I thought it was cool. I didn't want to be a cricketer, but I was getting a free way to study, so I thought, why not? Cricket was actually my back-up to academics (laughs)
– N Burger, South African pace bowler
(laughs)," Burger told ESPNcricinfo.
He made his IPL debut in RR's 20-run win over Lucknow Super Giants here on March 24.