India national cricket team T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has taken back his words, days after trolling Abhishek Sharma over his slow innings in the fourth T20I against Australia national cricket team.
Team India recently finished its Australia tour, which included a three-match ODI series and a five-match T20 series. They lost the ODI series 1-2 but won the T20I 2-1.
Suryakumar Yadav trolled Abhishek Sharma after the fourth T20 match
Aggressive opening batsman Abhishek Sharma is known for playing ultra-aggressive cricket for India while opening the innings in T20 cricket and he has done so consistently.
His aggressive batting style has brought him immense success and his career strike rate is currently 189.51, which shows how dangerous he can be.
However, Abhishek was unable to maintain a high strike rate in the fourth T20I in Carrara. He finished his innings with a strike rate of 133.33 and scored 28 runs in 21 balls with the help of three fours and a six.
This was one of the slowest innings played. After the game, Abhishek and Suryakumar jokingly trolled him, saying, “Kabhi dekha hai sher ko ghaas khaate hume? (Have you ever seen a lion eating grass?). Aaj sher ghaas kha raha tha dheere dheere karke, (Today, the lion was eating grass – slowly, little by little).”
Sometimes it will be okay if the lion eats grass – Suryakumar Yadav
After Abhishek Sharma won the Player of the Series award against Australia, Suryakumar Yadav has now taken a U-turn on his trolling. He first praised Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill for their great partnerships and said that it is okay if sometimes Sher (Abhishek) goes vegetarian. He said:
“If the wicket is difficult, the quicker you adapt the better. Today the wicket was good so they went normal, scored more than 50 runs in four and a half overs. But in the last game it was important to understand the wicket well. Both of them [Abhishek and opening partner Shubman Gill] He did good. At this level, you learn only from experience. The way he adapted himself so quickly, if we get a wicket like this in the subcontinent in the future, it will be nothing new for him.
“They communicate well. They run well. They are learning fast. Yes, there are only 120 balls, but often you have more time than you think. Sometimes if they take four-five balls extra to understand the conditions, they are so efficient that they can cover easily. And sometimes sher ghaas bhi khaa le to chalega (If the lion eats grass sometimes, it is fine, [laughs]),” Suryakumar Yadav said.
As an opening batsman, it is very easy for you to understand your role – Abhishek Sharma
In the post-match press conference, Abhishek Sharma credited captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir for filling him with confidence by giving him immense support. He said:
“I knew there would be extra bounce and pace, but, from the team’s point of view, my plan was to play the way I have been playing. Because as an opening batsman, it is very easy for you to understand your role.
“But I think when you are playing like this, when you want to dominate the opponent, you have to have that confidence and that ability. I think the captain and the coach have always supported me in that. I have worked really hard on it because it is not easy to come to Australia and beat them in white-ball cricket. So I wanted to play the same brand of cricket because we have been following it since before the Asia Cup.”
Also read: Suryakumar Yadav unhappy with the setup of Team India!
