India, March 3 -- Abhishek Sharma will be playing his first ICC World Cup semi-final on Thursday. Jos Buttler will walk out as a seven-time T20 World Cup veteran. Both batters usually deal in the same currency - fours and sixes - but they are enduring nervy times at the moment.

How liberating it must feel to have the licence to thrill, Buttler might think of his younger self watching Abhishek. Surely, it must help more to have been there and done that, Abhishek may be thinking.

These are stray thoughts that run through your mind when runs are not coming. One half of the opening duo of the two semi-finalists is searching for ways to iron out creases from their game.

Abhishek has managed only 80 runs in 6 innings with 55 of them coming i...