Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has criticized T20I opener Abhishek Sharma for showing a lack of ‘game awareness’ against Australia in Friday’s second of the five-match series in Melbourne. Pathan believes
that the left-hander started the innings well, but should have carried forward his high intent beyond the power play.
India managed only 125 runs in the first innings on a relatively tough T20 batting track with zip and bounce, where Josh Hazlewood blew away the visiting top-order with three wickets in his new-ball spell. Abhishek top-scored with 68 (37). He was batting at a much better strike rate with 29 (11) at the end of the power play, but, crucially, the team had also collapsed to 40/4 at that stage.
“Abhishek Sharma once again showed that while everyone else seemed to be batting on one pitch, he was batting on another,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel. “It was a brilliant half-century, a superb innings, but if you look closely, you’ll notice it had two parts. During the power play, he batted beautifully, but after it ended, he should have continued with the same intent and awareness, which he didn’t.”
India sent inexperienced bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana at number seven with the score at 49/5, ahead of Shivam Dube, and the former also contributed to Abhishek’s drop in contributions by consuming a lot of deliveries, only to get out for a low-impact 35 (33). However, Pathan said ‘Harshit did his job’ and Abhishek should have made better use of whatever chances he got from the other end.
“Harshit did his job. He ensured the team didn’t lose another wicket and managed a decent 35-run knock. As a lower-order batter, that’s all you can ask for. You can talk about strike rate later, but he did what was required. Now, what was Abhishek Sharma’s responsibility there? The powerplay went well, he played freely, and even when wickets fell around him, he stayed composed. But during that stand, most of the strike went to Harshit Rana — Abhishek faced only 14 balls out of 47. That’s where he needed to take charge. No doubt he’s India’s No. 1 T20 batter at the moment, but he must show better game awareness,” Pathan added.
Incidentally, Abhishek was asked about the same in the post-match press conference and he had explained that high-intent was the team’s first plan but it had to be altered according to the situation.
“First of all, obviously, I play according to the team plan. Our team plan is to dominate the top order,” he said. “But today, I think it was a little unexpected for us. They caught the spot as bowlers, their line and lengths were perfect. And when cricketers are falling in front of you, no matter who you are, you have to play a little for the team.”
