Only when everyone became convinced that Abhishek Sharma was ready to own the world cricket scene in a big way, I’m sorry to say, did he feel flattered to be fooled.
In the ongoing T20 World Cup, the 25-year-old opener suffered post-innings nightmares. Believe it or not, he has three ducks to his name, and three games is all he has played. There was one match against Namibia in which he did not appear to have a stomach ailment.
This World Cup showed that Abhishek’s honeymoon in international cricket is over. Now he has to make changes to his approach and style to last longer.
This is not an unusual requirement though.
This is what all the great players do. At first, everyone is an unknown entity, always making the most of their novelty as opposition tends to rack their brains.
Cricket is a type of chess. Abhishek drew first blood in his first two years of international cricket. The opposition has understood it now, and now it is his turn again to surprise them with the amendments.
The pitches also played a role in his dismal showing in the ongoing event. They are not the type of wicket that supports his type of batting. Yes, every now and then you can defy the odds like Ishan Kishan did against Pakistan with a very difficult wicket but remember that it happens from time to time. One must respect the conditions. Some other Indian batsmen also struggled in those matches, make no mistake. The match against the United States is a prime example of this.
For the first time in his international career, Abhishek has to ask himself if he hasn’t gone too far with his shots; If it’s time to drop anchor, sometimes when the pitches don’t favor his batting style.
In general, hiccups in their appearance are nothing to worry about. He is too good a player to stay quiet for long. If there were any elements of complacency in his batting in the league stages given Pakistan were the only Test playing nation in the group, rest assured they will not be there in the Super 8s as India find themselves paired with South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe. And to underscore the point, Zimbabwe are the team that set out to knock out one of the favorites before the event – yes, none other than Australia.
The West Indies also shocked England in a group match. As a footnote, having Kishan on the other end may have increased his self-satisfaction.
So, just the sheer size of the Super 8s is likely to drag Abhishek’s price down a notch or two. If he can maintain his complacency and tendency to smash the ball over the rope from the start, kudos are surely to him.
When all is said and done, one should not read too much into one’s ducks.
