1st T20I: Freedom given to youngsters by captain and coach is tremendous, says Abhishek

In India chasing down 133 inside 13 overs, Abhishek provided an absolute masterclass to a full house crowd on opening the batting by hitting five boundaries and eight sixes in his 34-ball stay, including getting his fifty in 20 deliveries.

He mixed finesse and brute force in getting a whopping 68 out of 79 runs from boundaries, and play a leading role in getting a comprehensive win for India to go 1-0 up in the five-match series. "I wanted to express myself, special mention to the captain and coach, the freedom they have given us as youngsters is tremendous. It was sticking a bit, double-paced, but the way our bowlers bowled was good, thought we'd chase 160-170. Sanju and I talk as partners, I enjoy at the other end."

"When I came for the first time in the India team, my plan was simple, play like I played in IPL. But never seen an environment like this, express yourself, hit your shots, even from the first ball. I practice my trigger movements before the match, I knew they'd bowl short and check my patience," said Abhishek after the match ended.

The Player of the Match award, though, went to wrist-spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, who spun a vicious spin web to pick 3-23 at a venue where he regularly plays for his IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders.

"I'm used to seeing such pitches in the IPL, it is for the seamers but the length I bowl it's helpful too. Keep it from their arc, holding a bit. Every over, bowling to a batsman like Jos is definitely challenging, but with God's grace, I was successful. The plan was to extract more bounce because I cannot beat batsmen with side spin, only bounce. Still more work to do. Only 7 out of 10."