Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes finishing the innings is a major batting concern for India after Suryakumar Yadav’s team claimed a 41-run win against Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup at Dubai on Wednesday.
India were 72-0 after the Powerplay overs and were 96-1 after 10 overs but could only post 168-8 in 20 overs. Hardik Pandya scored 38 runs off 29 balls but the other batters failed to contribute. Axar Patel struggled to get going as he trudged to 10 runs off 15 balls whereas SKY could only score five runs off just 11 balls.
“India were 110 at one stage after Abhishek Sharma got out, and you expect to get 200 from there, but they could not even score 170. Apart from Hardik Pandya, the other lower middle-order batters, it seems like they need to work hard if they need to be successful in that finishing role. Eventually, at the big stage, not Asia Cup, they might not need it here, but there will be a time where India will have to improve their finishing, especially the lower middle order batters who are used to batting in the top or middle order,” Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel.
Pathan said barring Abhishek Sharma, the Indian batters struggled to get going. Sanju Samson was demoted to number eight and did not even get a chance to bat.
“The match-up was right there, but Sanju Samson had to bat quite low, Tilak Varma also got demoted. It is difficult to bat down the order and show the aggression straightaway. Sanju Samson did not even come to bat, the No.8 position is a position that is quite low for him. Even Axar Patel struggled, he is someone who is fluent mostly, even he did not seem in good rhythm. Overall, looking at the batting, it seems that Abhishek Sharma is now the mainstay,” he added.
The former all-rounder tipped Abhishek Sharma as the best T20I batter in the world. Abhishek is the number one batter in the ICC T20I rankings.
“Abhishek Sharma, I mean India have never found such a T20 batter till now. He is the best T20 batter, he strikes close to 200 that too with incredible consistency. In the first three overs, only 17 runs were scored, but in spite of that, they ended with an unbelievable score in the powerplay,” Pathan said.
“His hitting ability is incredible, he never stops. The way he targets down the ground, the way he plays through the offside, it is a lot of fun watching that,” he added.
India will take on Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Friday.
