Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar has shed light on Abhishek Sharma’s technique in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. Manjrekar noted that the left-hander doesn’t move his feet much, which gives him the freedom to move his hands.
Sharma adopts ‘see the ball and hit the ball’ approach, which has paid dividends for him. The southpaw has scored 173 runs in four matches of the Asia Cup at an average of 43.25 and a blistering strike rate of 208.43. Sharma is the leading run-getter in the continental tournament and he is also the number one T20I batter in the ICC rankings.
The youngster scored a match-winning knock of 74 runs off just 39 balls against Pakistan in the Super Fours stage in the run-chase of 172.
Sanjay Manjrekar said on his Instagram handle, “Something on Abhishek Sharma and footwork in cricket. When we watch Test cricket, we talk about feet movement a lot. When a batter gets out, we say he didn’t move his feet at all. The great strength of Abhishek Sharma and his tremendous success in T20 cricket is that he doesn’t move his feet too much. So it’s completely the opposite technique where what he does is look at the ball and making sure that he doesn’t move his feet too much on the front foot or back foot.
“He sort of ensures that when he is looking to hit the ball, the bat is coming down nicely and his feet are not coming in the way. When you move your feet too much and want to have that bat and pad close together, sometimes the bat can get a bit tangled in your pad and those things can restrict your flare and your free hitting. So this is a case of a batter who’s been phenomenal, with tremendous ball sense and hand-eye coordination but the great strenth and the secret of his success is that he doesn’t move his feet too much.”
Manjrekar highlighted that Abhishek plays by giving himself room and none of his body parts come in his way when he plays a big shot.
“He keeps his feet out of the way and makes sure that the great weapon of his, the bat, that is coming down to hit the ball has completely free access, complete freedom and enough space and that none of his body parts are coming in the way when he’s hitting those shots. So yes, a talented guy who is just focused on hitting the ball. Finally it is a game of bat and ball isn’t it? And its about the bat hitting the ball and that’s what he does,” said Manjrekar.
India will next take on Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Wednesday.
