Abhishek Sharma can have issues with balls going away from him.
Abhishek Sharma has had issues with the ball going away from him against pacers in the powerplay. The bowlers have lately started bowling wider and away from his arc to control his boundary-hitting strokes by coming down the track. That’s been a trend for a while, and even Travis Head has had issues with such deliveries at times.
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Since 2025, Abhishek Sharma has had a strike rate of just 124.44 with one dismissal against all the pace deliveries swinging and seaming away in the powerplay. Additionally, he has played 48.88% false shots and 42.22% dot balls on such balls. Even during his peak in 2024, Abhishek couldn’t handle these balls and lost his wicket as many as four times in 38 deliveries.
To his credit, he has often preserved his wicket lately, but the flow of runs has been restricted massively. That, in turn, can help bowlers get wickets on other deliveries. On flat wickets, the plan should anyway be to check run-scoring right from the start, given how aggressive Abhishek Sharma remains early on.
The lines are still crucial; pacers need to ensure to end them within stumps by bowling around middle or leg and taking it towards the off-stump line. On all deliveries moving away from him and ending on the leg, middle or off stump, Abhishek Sharma has struck at just 80 and faced around 60% dot balls since last year. Additionally, the southpaw has been in control on just 53.34% of those deliveries.
That’s because width allows him to free his hands and slice away from the fielders during the field restrictions. If the deliveries are into the body and then moving late, the chances of edges or big shots going into the fielder’s hands surge massively. The bowled dismissal will also come into play, as happened in the IPL 2024 final.
Mukesh Kumar has three powerplay wickets in IPL 2026, all of which have come against LHBs so far. Against southpaws, he has averaged just 7.33 and an economy rate of 6. In contrast, Mukesh has conceded 10.22 runs per over and went wicketless against RHBs.
So, he will pose a big threat not only to Abhishek Sharma but also to SRH’s top three. Noticeably, he has taken two of those three scalps against balls going away from LHBs and on the leg and off-stump line, precisely what has troubled Abhishek. Mukesh has yet to dismiss him, but will fancy his chances this time.
The outswingers have worked well for him, and fortunately for the pacer, there has been ample swing on offer for new-ball speedsters across venues. Mukesh Kumar can be front-loaded in the powerplay since his value in other phases has been minimal this season. Outside the powerplay, he has just two wickets and has conceded around 10 runs per over.
Then, Delhi Capitals (DC) also have Auqib Nabi to use with the new ball and test the SRH openers further. He’s another new-ball specialist who can generate movement in both directions and will need to bowl straighter lines to force the batters to get an edge or play squarer at times. The only way to stop them is by dismissing them, and taking the ball away should be the plan straight away.
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