Robin Uthappa lauds Abhishek Sharma’s aggressive batting after win against Pakistan

Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa has pointed out the massive gulf between India and Pakistan cricket at the moment after the former registered a comprehensive seven-wicket win against the latter in the ongoing Asia Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday.

Uthappa showered praise on Indian opener Abhishek Sharma for rising through the ranks in the last 18 months at the International level. Sharma scored another blistering knock of 31 runs off just 13 balls against the arch-rivals.

The left-hander smashed his first ball to a boundary while facing Shaheen Shah Afridi and got a maximum on the second ball. Sharma is averaging more than 33 and has a blistering strike rate of 195.40 in T20Is.

Robin Uthappa said on his YouTube Channel, “There is a percentage of getting that to work in your favor and you stay within that range. So there is a lot of knowledge about your own batting and what works for you. And I don’t think the Pakistan players have any clue about what their method to their madness is or how they’ll score their runs. Let’s just take a youngster. Abhishek Sharma has just started playing international cricket in the last 18 months, similar to the Pakistani blokes.”

“Just the way he approached his batting despite being aggressive, he showed mindfulness. Even though he was hitting in the air, he was doing so on the off side. He timed the ball for sixes over covers and long-off. Yes, it’s power, yes you want to score boundaries at a quick rate, but there is a method to it.”

On the other hand, the former flamboyant batter said the Pakistan team is in a rebuilding stage and their former players need to understand that.

“When you listen to the conversation in the broadcast room or among the journalists, you hear a massive sense of disappointment from the Pakistan contingent. But you have to be also realistic about what the team is. It is a young side minus any experience in the top seven apart from Fakhar Zaman. They need to build towards figuring out how to score runs at the international level but it feels like there is no room for that,” said Uthappa.

India will next take on Oman at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Friday.