Abhishek's show will help him play for India: Markram

Sunrisers Hyderabad's South African import Aidem Markram believes Abhishek Sharma's destructive IPL form would fetch him an India cap in the not so distant future. Sharma, who is striking at over 200 in the ongoing edition, has 401 runs in 12 matches.

He and Australian Travis Head make for an explosive opening pair and most recently chased down over 160 runs in a less 10 overs against Lucknow Super Giants. Markram, who is the captain of the South African team, described the duo as "brothers of destruction" in an interview to PTI Videos. "Abhi (Abhishek) has made massive strides this season. He was showing some really positive signs in the previous seasons and what he's achieved so far this season puts him in good stead for hopefully representing India one day," Markram said of the 23-year-old left-hander. "He's got a very calm and level head on his shoulders and he'll take everything in his stride. But my fingers are certainly crossed for him to go to higher honours," he added.

Joining the debate surrounding the impact player rule, Markram said that the addition of an extra batter in the line-up has allowed teams to adopt a more aggressive approach. "Naturally, when you have that extra batter in your batting line-up, you feel more freedom as a player. And obviously from the start of the innings, the openers feel that extra bit of freedom as well," he explained.

"I think we've seen it with quite a few other teams that have been doing it. So I'll definitely say that the impact players have created that and created probably a new brand of T20 cricket that happens here in IPL," he said. Markram also commended the team's bowling unit, particularly the leadership of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. "I don't think he's (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) ever lost it, to be honest. He sort of leads from the front in his own calm and silent way. It's been fantastic for us to watch.