Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has urged Abhishek Sharma to respect the conditions after Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered a huge loss of 82 runs against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Tuesday. 

Ashwin reckons GT opening duo of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan are more effective on surfaces which offer help to the bowlers than Abhishek Sharma.

SRH were chasing a competitive total of 169 runs on a tricky pitch but lost the early wicket of Travis Head, who was dismissed without troubling the scorers. Despite losing his opening partner early, Abhishek smashed a first-ball six. On the second ball, he once again danced down the ground but failed to make any connection. But on the fourth ball of the over, he was cleaned up by Kagiso Rabada to leave SRH tottering at 6-2.

Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “Abhishek Sharma needs to work on this. T20 cricket has changed. Abhishek Sharma is picked in the Indian team because he plays a fearless brand of cricket. But if T20 cricket is given these kinds of pitches tomorrow, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill will be more useful. I want T20 cricket to be played on such pitches. But not just these pitches, because the spinners were not in the game here. I want spinners to be in the game as well.”

The former CSK off-spinner added that Abhishek can not ignore the pitch conditions if he has to be more consistent.

“Abhishek Sharma hit a six off Kagiso Rabada with extension. This means that this guy has a lot of time and is very talented. His bat swing is very good. What did he do next? He exposed all three stumps. The ball came in, hit his chest, and he was bowled. Can’t Abhishek Sharma play that shot? He can. You can drive above 100 kmph on a highway and even up to 200 kmph, but who will die if you drive at the same speed in a traffic jam? Cricket is a game where conditions are the king,” he added.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will next take on Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Monday.