India’s young opener Abhishek Sharma credits Indian Premier League (IPL) after scoring a match-winning century in the second T20I against Zimbabwe on Sunday (July 7) in Harare.

India thrashed Zimbabwe by 100 runs on Sunday (7th July). Abhishek Sharma's sensational hundred and a late blitz from Rinku Singh helped India post a mammoth 234 on the board. In reply, Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan both shared 3 wickets each to rip through Zimbabwe's batting lineup.

Abhishek scored 100 runs from 47 balls with 7 fours and 8 sixes. However, he hit a duck in his debut match yesterday, which India lost by 13 runs. "I think IPL plays a big role in this because as a youngster, as a debutant, we didn't feel much pressure when we came to represent the country," Abhishek said. "It's always a great motivation once you are playing for the country. Unfortunately it didn't go well in yesterday's game, but my mindset and intent was same. I had a word with the other debutants too, we've all played cricket together a long time, since U14 days I'd say. I think it's all about approach in T20, about intent. If I show intent and if it is my day, it usually goes like this,” Abhishek said.

Abhishek acknowledged that the players were unhappy with their performance in the series' first game. “Losing a game like that after the country has won a T20 World Cup was disappointing for the players. But still, we were all youngsters and have been playing together and against each other since childhood. So none of us went into our shells after losing, we were instead all together and thinking about the hard work we put in all those years and how this is the ultimate goal for all of us, so we should enjoy and focus on the next thing. Mindset was to forget what has happened and focus on the next match,” he added.