Former Indian national cricket team all-rounder Irfan Pathan has pointed out a major weakness in Abhishek Sharma’s game that could haunt the explosive opening batsman if not corrected as soon as possible.
Irfan Pathan said Abhishek Sharma going towards all the bowlers at the start of the innings is not the ideal approach and added that his mentor Yuvraj Singh would also take notes on this.
Abhishek Sharma wins Player of the Series against Australia
25-year-old batting all-rounder Abhishek Sharma is an aggressive cricketer, and he only believes in destroying the opposition bowling unit whenever he is in the middle.
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Since his debut for India in T20I cricket, he has been an unstoppable force and has taken world cricket by storm. He has managed to display explosive batting consistently, which has helped him skyrocket to the number one spot in the ICC T20I men’s batting rankings in no time.
Even after reaching number 1, Abhishek was not satisfied and continued to bat brilliantly, which led him to become the highest-rated batter in the history of ICC T20I rankings.
He recently won the Player of the Series award during the five-match T20I series against Australia, where he recorded scores of 19, 68, 25, 28 and 23.
Even Yuvraj Singh will focus on it. I will even talk to Yuvi – Irfan Pathan
In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Irfan Pathan said that Abhishek Sharma can’t go out all the time and he has to hold back; otherwise, opposing teams can easily come up with a plan to trap him early. He clarified:
“Abhishek Sharma got the player of the series award and he played fearlessly but we are talking about bilateral series here. Although Asia Cup is a multi-nation series. But teams are well prepared in World Cups. If Abhishek Sharma goes out and plays every time, teams will start training him. So he has to choose and I am sure the team management will focus on that. Even Yuvraj Singh will focus on that. I I’ll even talk to Yuvi (laughs).”
“Abhishek will also think that he cannot address every bowler in every innings. So, planning can be better. In this match, two catches were dropped off his bowling and even if one had been caught, his innings would have ended,” he added.
“He will play the same way. It’s high-risk cricket and it offers big rewards, but sometimes people may think ‘What shot was that?’ But fearless cricket must also have some logic and planning. I am sure Abhishek Sharma will focus on this. If he gets out, against which bowler he should do so. The second thing is that Nathan Ellis troubled him; hence, bowlers around the world will bowl against him with variations in the powerplay. Therefore, he needs to focus on that, especially the bat flow,” he said.
Shubman Gill’s innings in the last two matches has 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 the T20I vice-captain looked in good form and played some brilliant shots. He said:
“Shubman Gill’s innings in the last two matches have also been very positive. I talked about Gill in my previous video about how this pattern is best for him. Focusing on timing is a must. Everyone has been talking about his strike rate, but the innings at Gold Coast was for a winning cause. That’s what we want, players who play according to the conditions. That’s Shubman Gill.
“He left Abhishek Sharma behind in terms of strike rate in Brisbane. India’s score is above 50 and if Gill’s strike rate is above 200 and Abhishek was slightly struggling, two catches off him were dropped. But Gill looked well in control. When you have confidence to score runs and there is support, you get results. The only hope is that Gill should not leave that model behind. The timing is the model.”
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