Former India national cricket team all-rounder Irfan Pathan has highlighted a major weakness in Abhishek Sharma’s game, which if not rectified soon, could trouble the explosive opening batsman.
Irfan Pathan said Abhishek Sharma’s dismissal of all the bowlers at the start of the innings is not an ideal approach and added that his mentor Yuvraj Singh would also be taking notes about it.
Abhishek Sharma received the Player of the Series award against Australia
The 25-year-old batting all-rounder Abhishek Sharma is an aggressive cricketer, and believes in demolishing the opposition bowling unit whenever he is in the middle.
Since making his debut for India in T20I cricket, he has been an unstoppable force and has taken world cricket by storm. He managed to consistently display explosive batting, which helped him reach the No. 1 spot in the ICC men’s T20I batting rankings in no time.
Even after reaching No. 1, Abhishek was not satisfied and continued to bat brilliantly, due to which he became the highest-rated batsman in the history of ICC T20I rankings.
He recently won the Player of the Series award in the five-match T20 series against Australia, where he recorded scores of 19, 68, 25, 28 and 23.
Yuvraj Singh will also focus on this. I will also talk to Yuvi- Irfan Pathan
In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Irfan Pathan said that Abhishek Sharma cannot step out all the time, and he has to restrain himself; Otherwise, opposition teams can easily plan to trap him early. He elaborated:
“Abhishek Sharma got the Player of the Series award and he is playing fearlessly, but we are talking about bilateral series here. Although the Asia Cup was a multi-nation series. But in the World Cup, teams are well prepared. If Abhishek Sharma comes out and plays every time, teams will start putting him to work. So, he has to be picked and I am sure the team management will be focusing on it. Even Yuvraj Singh will be focusing on it. Must have been. I will also talk to Yuvi (laughs).
He said, “Abhishek might also be thinking that he cannot step in front of every bowler in every innings. So, the plan could be better. In this game, he had two catches dropped off his ball and if even one had been caught, his innings would have ended.”
“He will play the same way. It’s high-risk cricket and it’s high reward but sometimes people might think ‘What shot was that?’ But fearless cricket should also have some justification and planning. I am sure Abhishek Sharma will focus on this. If he is going out then against which bowler he will have to do so. The second thing is that Nathan Ellis harassed him; Therefore, bowlers around the world will be bowling to him with variations in the powerplay. So, he needs to focus on that, especially the flow of the bat,” he said.
Shubman Gill’s innings in the last two matches have also been very positive – Irfan Pathan
Abhishek Sharma’s opening partner Shubman Gill has faced heavy criticism ever since he replaced Sanju Samson at the top of the T20I playing XI.
However, Irfan Pathan defended Shubman Gill, saying that the T20I vice-captain looks in good form and has played great innings. He said:
“Shubman Gill’s innings in the last two matches have also been very positive. I talked about Gill in my previous video and how this template is the best for him. It’s important to focus on timing. Everyone talked about his strike rate, but the innings at Gold Coast were about winning. That’s what we want, players who play as per the conditions. That’s Shubman Gill.
“He overtook Abhishek Sharma in strike rate in Brisbane. India’s score is above 50 and if Gill’s strike rate is above 200 and Abhishek was struggling a bit – he had two catches dropped. But Gill looked well in control. When you are confident of scoring runs and the support is there, you get to see results. The only hope is that Gill should not leave this template behind. Timing is the template.”
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