Former Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane has showered praise on Abhishek Sharma for handling outside noise with guile after the T20I series against Afghanistan. Sharma had come into the series against Afghanistan with some pressure as he had managed only 11 runs in three games against Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Abhishek scored a magnum opus knock of 108 runs off 34 balls, including nine fours and 11 sixes in the final game of the series against Afghanistan. The left-hander reached his century off just 30 balls, which is the fastest for a batter from a Test-playing nation. The southpaw scored his runs at a blistering strike rate of 317.65 as he batted at the top of his game.

Rahane said on his YouTube Channel, “This will happen in the sport. People will talk if you do well or don’t do well. Abhishek is a mature player and batter who knows that the outside noise will continue forever.

“As much as I know Abhishek, I don’t think he would be looking to prove anything to anyone. I think he probably wanted to prove to himself how he can get better. He is a very bindas character off the field. I think the same character comes on the field too.”

Ahead of the third T20I against Afghanistan, Abhishek had given a pep talk in Punjabi to all the players, motivating them to give their best.

Rahane added, “He likes to live freely. There are a few characters who don’t know what to say in the huddle. Every player has a different character. But Abhishek doesn’t think too much about what others would feel. He speaks whatever is in his heart.”

Abhishek scored 229 runs in three games of the series at an average of 76.33 and a blistering strike rate of 269.71 against Afghanistan. Thus, the left-hander was awarded Player of the Series.