Former India captain and national selector Kris Srikkanth is extremely “concerned” about Abhishek Sharma after the left-handed batter failed to get going in the opening two T20Is against Zimbabwe in Harare. The left-hander was dismissed for 1 and 8 in the opening two matches, and his form has emerged as a big concern in a series, where India have not done much wrong. Srikkanth said that Abhishek needs to find a way and also advised him to perhaps take it a little slow at the start of his innings, as he has the ability to catch up later on.
In both the T20Is against Zimbabwe, Abhishek ended up throwing his wicket away as he chased a glory shot, trying to force the pace of the game. The left-handed batter earlier this year had a below-par T20 World Cup, where only a good knock from his bat came in the final.
The series against Ireland and England then saw mixed results for Abhishek, and he was sent to Zimbabwe. Srikkanth also questioned the move to leave Sanju Samson out of the lineup for the Zimbabwe series and sticking with Abhishek when the returns for both players have been more of the same.
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“I am concerned for Abhishek Sharma. I don’t know what is happening with him all of a sudden. I hope he comes good. He has to find another way of scoring runs. Or the other way out is to probably cool down for a few balls. He is one guy who can always make up. You play at 100 strike rate for a while and then take it to 200 rather than throwing it away,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“From the World Cup, his international track record has not been very good except for a few knocks. Samson was the MVP of the World Cup. Why does he not get the chance, and Abhishek gets chances like this? It is a very valid question. Abhishek is getting a long rope, so why not Samson? Why is this happening with one player and not with the other?” he asked further.
In the World Cup, Abhishek scored 141 runs in eight matches, and the England series saw 131 runs coming off his bat in five games.
All about Samson
Samson, who was the Player of the Tournament in India’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign, was dropped from the playing XI after three poor knocks against Ireland and England. He made his way back into the lineup for the fifth T20I against England but that was nothing substantial as by then, he was dropped from the squad for the Zimbabwe tour.
The selectors or the management have not come out in public to say whether Samson was dropped or rested from the squad. However, he is a part of the Asian Games team.