Former Indian opener Abhinav Mukund has praised West Indies captain Shai Hope for switching gears from ODIs to T20Is in exemplary fashion. Hope scored another blistering knock of 102 runs off just 50 balls in the fourth T20I against India at Hyderabad on Wednesday to help his team post a par score of 247 runs on the board.
The flamboyant batter scored four fours and nine sixes in his whirlwind knock. This is Hope’s seventh century against India while playing in Indian conditions, which is the most for any batter.
Hope scored 278 runs in three ODIs against India, whereas he has amassed 261 runs in four T20Is against the hosts at an average of 130.50 and a strike rate of 190.51.
Abhinav Mukund said on Cricinfo, “He’s got an extraordinary ability where he can switch gears like that. And that switching from ODIs to T20Is, it’s caught me by some surprise. He was way more compact, got behind the line of the ball when the ODIs were happening. But come the T20Is, he’s adopted a technique where he does go away from the ball. He gives himself a lot more room. The way he’s handled Axar Patel, not a lot of batters in the world [have done it].
“Nine sixes in an innings, with Shai Hope’s ability to absorb pressure, he was able to take that to another level. I thought he slowed down just a touch before getting to 50. And then his acceleration towards the last half was amazing,” Mukund added.
The former Tamil Nadu batter said the IPL franchises, which are looking for a top-order batter, should look to rope in Shai Hope in the auction.
He concluded, “Opening batters necessarily aren’t in high demand. If you look at it, it’s a very tough gig to get. We’ve seen Shai Hope bat out of position in the IPL also. He’s batted at four, three, a couple of times. But, a batter in a form like this, you know, he can field as well in case you already have a keeper-batter. But I think he should bat in the top two. And a team that’s looking for an opener, perhaps. Why not? Definitely.”
IPL 2027 auction is scheduled to take place in Goa in mid-December.
