Abhishek Sharma walked into this T20 World Cup as the No.1 ranked T20I batter in the world. Two games later, he is yet to score a run. The Indian opener suffered his second successive duck when he fell in the very first over against Pakistan in Colombo.
After missing the Namibia game due to illness, Abhishek returned to the XI but lasted just four balls. Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha opened the bowling, and a loose stroke saw Abhishek caught by Shaheen Afridi. Abhishek was beaten by pace and the spin off Salman Ali Agha, who delivered two superb overs in the powerplay.
The ploy worked, and Abhishek’s case was over. India still won comfortably by 61 runs despite the stat floating around that India wins 96% of their games when Abhishek scores 30+ runs in a T20I. This is not it, Abhishek endured two ducks in the India vs New Zealand 5-match series as well.
Ravi Shastri’s message for Abhishek Sharma
Former India coach Ravi Shastri believes Abhishek does not need to reinvent himself. He just needs to breathe. “I think he’s due, but he just has to give himself a little bit of time,” Shastri told Sanjana Ganesan via ICC after India’s demolition job of Pakistan.
“Such things happen and you can go off the boil, but he’s just got to give himself a little more time until he gets back on track. Because for him to convert those dot balls later on into boundaries and sixes, is not difficult.”
Abhishek’s strength is his ability to turn pressure into rapid scoring and blow teams out of the match inside the powerplay overs. But that only works if he survives the early overs. At the moment, he is getting out, trying to dominate too early. The duck against Pakistan means Abhishek has now joined Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli on the list of most ducks for India in T20 World Cups, with two each. The company he wants to be with, but not for this record.
Cricket
Should India rest Jasprit Bumrah & Hardik Pandya against the Netherlands for Super 8 preparations?
