Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has heaped praise on Abhishek Sharma after the second T20I against Australia. Sharma scored a majestic knock of 68 runs off 37 balls as he batted at the top of his game.
The left-hander smashed eight fours and two sixes in his blistering knock against the Aussies. Sharma has been in fine form in T20Is and continued his rich touch in the second game.
The southpaw scored his runs at an impressive strike rate of 183.78 and this was his sixth fifty in T20Is. The youngster had recently scored 314 runs in seven matches of the Asia Cup and was awarded Player of the Tournament.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “I truly believe, man, that the next batting superstar of India is Abhishek Sharma. See, he doesn’t have a problem exactly, not a problem, but a challenge. “Problem” is a very big word. His challenge is to be able to control that downswing. I was reading somewhere that he still talks to Brian Lara because Lara had a huge backlift. His bat swing was magnificent too, so Abhishek spoke to Lara about controlling that bat swing to be able to play Test cricket.”
“So just think about his mindset, it’s ticking at that level. Even that day in Canberra, when the match was washed out, he was talking to Shubman Gill. From his gestures, it looked like he was talking about the bat swing and the pull shot. I even have a screenshot from the last game; he was a bit late on the pull shot then. But in this game, he made that correction. He found a way to get it over the top,” he added.
Ashwin lauded Abhishek Sharma for dancing down the track and taking the attack to the opposition bowlers from the get-go.
“All said and done, that bat swing, he actually stepped out today, charged down the track, and Australia bowled really well too. They were bowling tight lines, fuller lengths, taking the pace off. But that full ball, especially when you charge at a fast bowler and they try to bowl a yorker, you don’t have width to free your arms. Yet, he was still able to open up his arms and hit it over covers for a boundary.”
“These are all very special abilities that a player possesses. I always say, we all work hard, but to make that hard work shine, you need a little gift, that God-given gift. Abhishek Sharma has that gift. He has the mind to think deeply about the game, and he is just an exceptionally talented batter. I wish I could keep watching him all day long. On a tough pitch and a tough day for India, once again, he gave us a beautiful exhibition of what good batsmanship in T20 cricket looks like,” he added.
The third T20I between India and Australia will be played at Hobart on Sunday.
