Abhishek Sharma knocks it out of the park

There’s a particular moment in a game when every nerve-shredding move a player has endured gently dissipates and a blanket of triumph cloaks over all the competitiveness. It’s not always at the end, because this euphoric state is more an acknowledgment of a personal milestone than a win. And it has many ways of playing out to an adoring public eye: It’s the way Novak Djokovic draws his victory violin solo (the musical gesture is supposed to be a nod to his daughter learning to play the instrument) before a win or how Virat Kohli kisses the wedding ring around his neck to celebrate a new milestone. Abhishek Sharma, the left-handed cricketer with outrageous talent, who became the highest scoring Indian player in the IPL’s 18-year history, has found his own version of theatrics.

Just ten days ago, the moment Sharma reached his long-awaited century (scoring 100 off just 40 balls against Punjab Kings), he punched the air, dropped his bat to the ground, and took off his gloves while the crowds watched on expectantly, waiting for him to make the ‘L’ sign. The young cricketer is known to mark his big milestones with this hand gesture. Is it a Gen Z way of spreading love? Or a romantic shoutout to a special someone? Or is he just capturing the moment like a filmmaker with an air-camera?

But just when we thought we knew what was coming, Sharma flipped the script. 

No ‘L’ in sight. Instead, he pulled out a folded note from his pocket. Despite the adrenaline, it felt like this scene was playing out on live television in slow motion. The 24-year-old from Amritsar unfolded the mysterious piece of paper and held it up for the crowds—and cameras—to see. ‘This one is for Orange Army’, the handwritten note read in bold, referring to Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) fan colours, and sending the home crowd into roaring cheers. 

Watching this unfold, I felt a little smug, as if I’d been in on a secret. Only a few days before this fateful game, I sat across Sharma in Hyderabad’s Annapoorna studios and asked him about his pre-match ritual. “I wake up and listen to some prayers, maybe the Hanuman Chalisa, I meditate, and then I journal. It’s really important because it helps me get ready for the day,” he says. I wonder if on the morning of April 12, as he journalled this phrase (which has now been shared millions of times across the country) onto a blank page and tucked it into his pocket, did the young cricketer have any idea that he was about to play the record-breaking innings of a lifetime?

“When I saw Yuvraj Singh hit those six sixes in the T20 match against England, I got really inspired. That’s the moment I knew I wanted to represent my country”

As much as my manifestation-loving Gen Z heart would like to credit this to wishful thinking, this slow-burn success has been two decades in the making. Sharma reveals he was only four when he began training. “My dad was a cricketer, and he wanted me to become a cricketer too,” he says. But this family dream became his own in 2007, when he was barely seven years old. “When I saw Yuvraj Singh hit those six sixes in the T20 match against England, I got really inspired. That’s the moment I knew I wanted to represent my country,” Sharma recalls. 

In the years that followed, Sharma trained under Singh, who quickly went from faraway idol to friend and mentor. The young cricketer now fondly calls him Yuvi Paaji, adding that they had a “strong connection” right from the start because they are both left-hand batters and bowlers. Any time his confidence wavers, Sharma finds solace in his celebrity coach’s words: “He called me to his house in the [COVID-19] lockdown and said, ‘I’m not training you for Ranji Trophy or IPL, I’m training you for India.’ This always makes me believe in myself,” he shares. 

Ten sixes. Fourteen fours. A shocking 141 runs off 55 balls. 

Even if you don’t speak the language of cricket, you should know that’s a rare, magical innings. But even before shattering records, the Amritsari cricketer has had a lot to show in the name of success.

Back in 2016, as captain, Sharma led India’s U-19 team to victory in the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup. Two years later, as a newly minted 18-year-old, he entered the big leagues by joining the Delhi Daredevils IPL squad and then moved to SRH the following year, where he’s been retained ever since.

For the young sports star, 2024 was monumental: first, he won the title for scoring the most number of sixes (42 across 16 matches) in that IPL, and soon after, he was recruited to the Indian T20 team. Sharma also made his debut against Zimbabwe in July and scored a news-making century in his second game repping his country. In a game of aggression, his age and kinetic beauty are in equal part responsible for his most recent “knock for the ages", as my own cricket-loving father puts it. 

Shorter version: He’s 24 and plays like a 24-year-old.

But everyday is different for a sportsperson. “I was grateful that the hard work I put in was showing, but after that my scores weren’t always up to the mark. Even if I was worrying, Yuvi Paaji was there. He just told me to keep following my process,” says Sharma, who is one of the six new cricketers among 36 players to be offered a fresh central contract for 2024-25 by the BCCI.

During long tournaments where wins aren’t consistent, Sharma likes to keep a distance from social media to focus on the game. He muses that “as Indians, fans are very emotional about cricket”.

Seeing the Gen Z cricketer on Instagram—where he has over 3.4 million followers—and then in real life, I could never guess that Sharma ever felt unsure or bent by the pressure. On the day of The Nod shoot, he stepped into the studio wearing a white Versace tee and matching sneakers, with a Vietnamese iced coffee in one hand and the other outstretched to greet us. Even though his handshake was firm and smile kind, I couldn’t help but feel intimidated by his presence.

Let’s state the obvious: Abhishek Sharma is undeniably gorgeous. And from his demeanour, you can tell that he knows he has this effect on people. Despite spending the majority of his lifetime on the cricket pitch, where the trajectory of a six is way more important than your jawline, Sharma is a natural poser. But you know this already from his Instagram feed, which is a mix of on-field clips, sponsorship posts and carefully curated shoots that uncover the cricketer’s personal style. Vetements, Off-White, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Almost Gods, gold chains and diamond studs are spotted aplenty. And while most sportspersons show an affinity for luxury streetwear, this 20-something is among the rare few who know how to flirt with the camera. 

This is where his innate Gen Z-ness shines the brightest. Sharma has tailored a fandom that not only sees him as a poster boy for cricket but as someone who is just like us. You know, who loves creating content and uses Instagram to post about his day—flying kites with his friends (Versace sunnies on) or documenting pilgrimages to the Golden Temple and Vaishno Devi, all while wearing a $2,000 hoodie. He recently shared a heartbreaking post about his golden retriever, Leo, passing, which resonated with his million fans. When I ask him how he fell in love with fashion and photoshoots, the cricketer instantly shrugs off any special association, jotting it down to a mere occupational hazard. “You just have to do it if you’re playing for the country and you want to do well. It’s part of the career—you have to accept [the shoots and clothes],” he says. 

So, all those smouldering photos—just part of the job? I nudge again, adding that you can see when someone revels in being in front of the camera, and he certainly seems to have that glint in his eyes. The compliment brings a cheeky smile on his face, and Sharma finally gives in, “I don’t know... I think it was always in me. Even back in my under-12 and under-14 days, I remember Shubman [Gill] and I would style each other and go out. We would always say ‘oh this looks better’ or ‘wear that today’. And we would talk about the watches and clothes we would buy in the future.”

“Back in my under-12 and under-14 days, I remember Shubman [Gill] and I would style each other and go out. We would always say ‘oh this looks better’ or ‘wear that today’. And we would talk about the watches and clothes we would buy in the future.”

Now that the cricketer can have virtually anything, is there anything left on his luxury wishlist? “Right now, whatever I want I just get,” he confesses, as the grin on his face widens. “There are always goals and everything comes in time. You can’t run after it. But I love shopping,” he adds. He talks about the floral Casablanca shirt that he wore in Dubai to watch India play Pakistan in the Champions Trophy match back in March. “That shirt went so viral; usually, any of my favourite clothes I wear at least two or three times but after that…,” he lets the sentence trail away, suggesting that as he reaches the ranks of fashionable sportspeople whose outfits are meticulously dissected, the young cricketer has to be more careful with what he picks. 

When I ask who styles him, Sharma first teases, “Usually I do it myself,” and then looks around the room sheepishly as if someone might jump out of the wall and call him out for that little white lie. “Okay, no. I ask the people around me. I am always with my closest group—you’ll never see me alone—so I ask them if something looks good,” he laughs. I can confirm that—through the shoot, the otherwise self-assured cricketer looks at his entourage to confirm if his mussed hair sits right at all times. 

Even on the biggest days of his life—getting selected for India’s T20 squad in 2024 or scoring a century in his second game repping the country—Sharma prefers to move away from the cameras and seek out his people to celebrate. “I love spending time with my friends, my family, Yuvi Paaji and my close ones, that’s it. I feel relaxed around them,” he shares. In many ways the wins are as much his family’s as they are his. The cricketer calls his parents and two older sisters his “four coaches in the house”, revealing that the sport has consistently been a major point of discussion and deliberation in their family. 

In fact, his dad recently revealed that his match against Punjab Kings was the first time he watched his son play live in the IPL. “I am superstitious. I used to think he wouldn’t do well if I was there,” Raj Kumar Sharma told the press. His son, on the other hand, called his parents SRH’s lucky charm. And their closeness comes through in the gratitude post that the cricketer shared after scoring 141. An Instagram carousel with 2.3 million likes and the caption “My favourite moments” does not feature any videos of record-breaking helicopter shots or sweeping hits. Instead, it has three pictures of the young player with his parents, a tear-jerking hug with his dad saved for the very end.

“They really support me through everything,” he shares. This gets a little tricky with the fashion and media side of it. “My dad is against shooting and all because he thinks whenever you have a rest day you should practice… and I understand where he’s coming from,” he adds. 

But witnessing the excitement on Sharma’s face as he slips into a Gucci jacket and steps in front of the camera, it’s clear this isn’t just a cricketer. This is a Gen Z star in the making and there will be many more folded notes flying out of his pockets in the years to come. 

Editorial Direction: Megha Mahindru, Ridhima Sapre. Photography and Videography: Indra Joshi/ Feat Artists. Fashion Stylist: Naheed Driver. Art and Creative Director: Harry Iyer. Visual Director: Jay Modi. Bookings Director: Nikita Moses. Hair and Makeup: Claire Gil/ Anima Creatives. Styling Assistant: Kashish Jain. Production: Imran Khatri Productions