TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: An hour before the Indian cricket team’s scheduled arrival at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the groundstaff was in overdrive with their preparations. Rolling was underway on the practice square and the makeshift nets were placed around the pitches the Men in Blue would use for their first, and only, session at the venue ahead of the final group game against the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup.The Super Eight berth is already sealed following three convincing wins, but this game will attract significant interest. First, because the same venue will host the Super Eight clash against South Africa on February 22 and second, and more importantly, due to Abhishek Sharma.
All the pre-tournament build-up focused on the dashing opener from Punjab. Since breaking into the team, the belligerent southpaw carved a reputation for his consistent destruction at the top of the order, and he was the sole reason opponents burned the midnight oil while planning his downfall.Meticulous planning by the opposition — the USA and Pakistan — means he is yet to score his first run in the World Cup. A severe stomach infection, sandwiched between those two contests, hasn’t helped either. A golden duck in the tournament opener was followed by a four-ball duck against Pakistan in Colombo. Prior to these outings, the 25-year-old, who enjoys a healthy average of 35.05 and a menacing strike-rate of 193.29 in the format, failed to open his account twice in the five-T20I series vs New Zealand at home.
Abhishek Sharma
Four ducks in the last seven innings is not the ideal reading for a player who has instilled fear in opponents. On Wednesday he gets another opportunity to regain his form before the T20 World Cup’s business end gets underway. The optional nets session on the eve of the game was a long and lonely grind for the opener who spent significant time working on his range against spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar. The usual big ones were on display but they weren’t the cleanest hits with the sweetest sound off the bat.Rightly so, he was allowed a free hand during the hit as head coach Gautam Gambhir stood behind the net where Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh were batting. The bat flow and swing are such integral parts of his batting that the moment they return to normal, runs flow at the pace everyone is used to seeing from the left-hander. Even when the connection wasn’t ideal, Abhishek achieved a better flow and extended his elbows well while navigating different pockets of the stadium.“Last game he got out in first over. So one thing we definitely do, we unnecessarily don’t over-analyse,” was batting coach Sitanshu Kotak’s response when asked about Abhishek’s failures in two outings.“He is someone who has got his plan sorted and he follows the way he wants to and obviously we discuss about the opposition, their bowling, their bowling strength, whatever they’ve been doing in the last few games they’ve played. All that is normal for everyone, not only for Abhishek,” added the coach.
If we start stressing so much, I think players will be under unnecessary pressure. So he’s in a good form. He’s got clear plans. He’s got a clear mindset. And that is what matters
Sitanshu Kotak
India have followed a high-risk template in T20Is under captain Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir. Every batter’s primary intent has mostly been to pressure the bowlers from the start. This dominance explains their strong run in the format and why they have been a high-scoring team in the bilaterals preceding the multi-nation tournament.“Abhishek has made runs in the matches before that. Now in the T20 format, sometimes in 10 balls, 30 runs are just as important. Secondly, honestly, we focus on all the batters or all the players. We don’t think that one player didn’t get his runs. Because in T20, there is a high-risk game, somewhere or the other, a player will get out. If we start stressing so much, I think players will be under unnecessary pressure. So he’s in a good form. He’s got clear plans. He’s got a clear mindset. And that is what matters for us,” Kotak explained when asked about the team’s mindset.The coach is instead looking at the brighter side. He is very happy that the teams are worked up about keeping Abhishek quiet. Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson’s admission after the defeat to India was the latest instance of how opponents have identified the fearless batter as the real deal in the Indian line-up.
Abhishek Sharma is yet to get off the mark in the ongoing T20 World Cup. (PTI)
“See, first of all, a lot of credit to Abhishek, if they plan and talk about him. Because I am sure he must be doing that well, that they are so concerned about Abhishek. But we plan, he also comes up with his ideas. Even in the last game, I don’t think anyone can plan to get him out at mid-on. He sat up and got out. That’s okay. And if they are so concerned, that’s a great sign for us and it’s great credit to him the way he plays,” said Kotak.For a setup that has successfully embraced the high-risk template, the focus remains on playing the situation and doing what the team demands at that stage. Just as Suryakumar had to dig deep against the USA, and both he and Tilak had to hold their shots when Pakistan applied the spin choke in Colombo.“I think playing aggressive cricket is important but not because of a player’s couple of failure will change. If anything, the plans will change according to situation. So no matter whether somebody has scored runs for two innings or not, or somebody… But it’s more what team needs at that time, in that conditions,” explained Kotak.However, the same rules don’t apply to Abhishek. He doesn’t play by the regular book and has a very straightforward approach. See the ball, whack the ball. While the think-tank isn’t losing sleep over his lack of runs, the entire nation will surely sleep well, and opponents will return to sleepless nights, if Abhishek returns to form and adds significantly to his T20 World Cup tally — which is yet to get off the mark.
