'I Have Seen Him Batting...': Matt Henry Reflects On Abhishek Sharma's Aggressive T20 Approach

New Zealand pacer Matt Henry felt the rise of Abhishek Sharma augurs well for Indian cricket but stated this was the trend anyway batters went about in T20Is in today's world game.

The Kiwi pacer was also excited about New Zealand's white-ball tour of India next year prior to the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 as India are the world champions and the series would make for a titanic battle.

"Yeah, I think the timing of that series is really important as well. We've obviously got a World Cup coming up as well. So being able to, I suppose, and play in Indian conditions in the build-up makes sense. It's an important, I suppose, part of our World Cup journey as well before, obviously India, Sri Lanka host the World Cup."

"With regard to Abhishek Sharma, you, considering that way he goes after the ball from one and I've seen him batting. Yeah, it seemed to be a common trend with the batters, isn't it? Yeah, they are coming in really hard, which is, I suppose you've seen their IPL performances in the last few years, the scores and the way that batters are going about the game, that fearless approach," he added.

Henry felt the style of batting in T20 cricket globally has ensured that the bowlers are on their toes. "And I think it's going across the board as well. So it's keeping us bowlers on the toes. But I think the great thing is it provides opportunities for bowlers, so being able to bowl teams out, it's really important, and I think that's probably shown that taking wickets is super important to stop those types of players."

Talking about the challenge of playing in India, Henry felt it was always a herculean task winning a single game in any format, let alone a series and that underscored the magnitude of the 3-0 Test series victory last year in India.

Henry had played a stellar role in demolishing India in the first Test of the three-match series in 2024 scalping eight wickets, including a fifer in India's first innings. " Yeah, I wouldn't say surprise. I think for us, we know the challenge of not only winning a series here, but to win a game here in India is a massive challenge, and it was something that we we were prepared for, I think, having that tour in Sri Lanka leading into the Test series gave us a lot of confidence around how we want to play the game and getting used to the spin friendly conditions and how to put bowling attacks under pressure and vice versa, how we can put teams under pressure."

The New Zealand pacer felt it was a memorable series win for them in India last time around and they drew tremendous confidence.

"So, yeah, it was a memorable series for us. I mean to come here and not only win a series, but clinch it 3-0 is pretty amazing and it was pretty special for New Zealand cricket."

Henry was ecstatic while talking about his great performance in Bengaluru. "The Bengaluru Test was special as it the conditions were quite different from Indian ones. New Zealand forced India to make a surface. It suited us and still they came. I think it was always a tough one for the captains what to do, right? I think we all knew that it was probably going to do something for the first half hour or hour, but you had to make the most of it because I think it showed throughout that test that the runs, they flowed later on and that's the beauty of test cricket. It's little moments, and if you can win them, you can put teams under pressure and fortunate for us that we're in a position we could put India under some pressure and we were able to get ahead of the game," he added.

Henry was effusive in his praise when it came to talking about the depth of Indian cricket in T20Is building up to the ICC T20 World Cup to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

"I think you see the depth that India cricket have in T20 cricket is incredible, really, and you see it in the IPL and the people that are coming from the league and doing incredible earnings and you've got to cross the board in the bowling department as well as with the bats.

So no doubt it's going to be a very strong side and obviously they'll be one of the teams to beat in the format of four or five match series. I just think I've seen the nature as being able to have two or three match series what we have on offer is to be able to fit it in the schedule and is probably the biggest challenge that we face to be able to get that done," he added.

The NZ pacer was also looking forward to the new challenge ahead of them coming up against the West Indies.

"So from a player's point of view, it's always something that we've always wanted to do as even a five match series would be amazing, but at the moment, it is a tour of three match series. We've got a three-match series coming up against the West Indies, which is going to be really important for us to start our build-up. So we are going to be playing some good cricket. I know they've got a big challenge here in India ahead of them, but we know they're a class side with some young talent as well, so we'll be ready at home for that.

Henry opined that fast bowlers have no other option but to be resilient with the amount of cricket played these days and sustain speeds of 145 and plus. "Yeah, I think it's always going to be a challenge with, I suppose the amount of cricket you've got and the resilience of the fast bowlers is always tested and yeah, guys at a bowling are that fast pace, the workload management's really important, the strength and conditioning. There's a lot of different pieces to the puzzle as well as action and stuff. So it is always a challenge, and I think that's why the best have always been able to kind of stay on the park, which has always been the challenge for most fast bowlers," he added.