Rise and shine

At nine, cricketer Abhishek Sharma knew he had the skills. At 23, he's already scored the fastest IPL 50 for Sunrisers Hyderabad. The national team is a dream away. Here's what life is like on the cusp of fame

- Urvee Modwel

In April, cricketer Abhishek Sharma was at a photoshoot, when one of the stylists asked to take a picture with him. He obliged. “She wrapped her hands in mine. And that picture went viral," he recalls. “It was all over social media that I have a new girlfriend."

At 23, Sharma isn't used to viral photos and overactive rumour mills. He's been playing cricket since he was a kid, but only shot to national fame during this year's IPL season, when he hit the fastest IPL 50 for Sunrisers Hyderabad, making 63 off 23 balls, and becoming the second-highest run-scorer in the team's history. He's on the map. He's in the spotlight. He's hoping to break into the India cricket team. Fame? It was not part of the syllabus until now.

Sharma's cricket story started early. His father, Raj Kumar Sharma, played for Punjab. By the time Abhishek Sharma was born, his father had already set up a cricket academy in Amritsar. Naturally, he was young Sharma's first coach. "I started going with him to the academy when I was probably around five or six," Sharma recalls. “Everything I saw at home was about cricket - his trophies, him playing. Everything revolved around cricket."

He made it to the team at an under-12 tournament. "That's when I realised I could bat and bowl," he says. "At nine, I scored my first century; that's probably when I knew I was good."

Sharma's first moment in the spotlight was when he hit a century in his Under-19 debut for Punjab in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy. "There wasn't a lot of media attention, because domestic age group cricket isn't viewed much. But it was a great feeling," he recalls. He'd already been the leading run scorer in an Under -16 tournament. "So, I was definitely high on confidence, and it helped me believe I belonged at that level."