India’s national cricket team’s explosive opener Abhishek Sharma has admitted that he was surprised by the sensational bowling of Australia national cricket team’s leading fast bowler Josh Hazlewood in the second T20 match.
Abhishek Sharma said that he has not seen anything like the spell bowled by Josh Hazlewood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, October 31.
Our team plans to dominate the top order- Abhishek Sharma
25-year-old Abhishek is currently the No. 1-ranked batsman in the ICC men’s T20I batting rankings, and has already achieved the most rating points by a batsman in the history of T20I cricket.
He has shown something new in world cricket, that is consistency with his ultra-aggressive brand of batting in T20I cricket. The left-handed batsman has been in incredible form and has single-handedly demolished the opposition team with consistent explosive runs.
In the second T20I against Australia, the Indian batting unit was demolished by the Josh Hazlewood-led bowling unit, and the only batsman who looked good in the middle was Abhishek Sharma.
It seemed like the opener was batting on a completely different surface, and he scored 68 runs in 37 balls with the help of 8 fours and 2 sixes, leaving India all out for 125 runs.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Abhishek said that he wanted to continue playing aggressive cricket throughout his innings, but after India lost quick wickets, he had to adapt and take over the innings. He said:
“First of all, obviously, I play according to the team plan. Our team plan is to dominate the top order. But today, I think it was a bit unexpected for us.
“He nailed it as a bowler, his line and length were perfect. And when cricketers are falling in front of you, it doesn’t matter who you are, you’ve got to play a bit for the team.”
It was not easy to hit the shot- Abhishek Sharma
The explosive opener further said that the surface at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was difficult to bat on and the Australian bowlers made very good use of it.
Abhishek said that he tried to play according to the situation and it was difficult to hit shots on that kind of pitch.
“So, (I) played as per the situation, obviously, it’s not that I was not aware of the situation. I felt the higher the score (it would be better for the team), because the wicket looked very difficult while playing. It was not easy to hit shots. But that was my mindset,” he explained.
But even I was surprised by the way he bowled today – Abhishek Sharma
Abhishek further talked about Josh Hazlewood’s brilliant spell with the new ball, where he bowled Test-match lengths and returned with exceptional figures of 3/13.
He said that the fast bowler surprised him with his sensational bowling and executed his plans perfectly against the Indian batsmen. The opener said:
“I was watching him in the ODIs as well, so we knew he would give us challenges. But the way he bowled today surprised me. I haven’t seen anything like that in T20s. It was something new for me as a batsman who wants to dominate. But he had a plan, and he executed it perfectly.”
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