India vs Australia: Opener Abhishek Sharma Wins 'Player Of The Match', Reveals His Preparation For Conditions Down Under

Australia Men's Cricket Team vs India Men's Cricket Team Timeline: As the fifth and final T20I match between India and Australia got washed out due to incessant rain at the Gabba, Indian opener Abhishek Sharma won the 'Player of the Tournament' award on Saturday. Abhishek, in his post-match interview, revealed getting himself prepared "mentally and technically" for months to take on the challenge down under.

Abhishek scored 163 runs in five matches as India won the five-match T20I series 2-1. Notably, two out of the five matches got abandoned due to rain.

The 24-year-old blue-eyed boy for India stated that he had long looked forward to testing himself on the bouncy Australian pitches and against high-quality pace attack.

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"I have been waiting for this tournament. When I got to know we're going to Australia for the T20Is, I was very excited," Abhishek said after India sealed the rain-affected series 2-1 on Saturday.

"Throughout my career, I've seen that Australia is very batting-friendly, and I wanted to prepare myself for these kinds of bowlers and conditions.”

The left-hander said his preparation focused on facing world-class fast bowlers and adapting his game to Australian surfaces.

"If you want to play good cricket and do well for your team, you have to face world-class bowlers. I was practicing for these kinds of bowlers because that's how you improve as a player," he said, when asked if Josh Hazlewood's absence in the last three T20Is made it a bit easy for the India players.

"The captain and coach have given me the clarity and confidence to just go and express myself. As a batter, when you're scoring 20s and 30s, you know you can go longer, but the clarity to set the momentum for the team has really helped me," he said.

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The youngster from Punjab said the series had strengthened his resolve to push for a T20 World Cup berth next year.

"It will be a dream come true if I get to play the World Cup. As a kid, I always dreamt of winning it for India. I will make sure I'm ready for that tournament," he said.

Inputs from PTI