Legendary India spinner turned analyst Ravichandran Ashwin has praised opening batter Abhishek Sharma. His comments came after his impressive knock in the second T20I of the five-match series against Australia on Friday, October 31, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as well.
Despite India’s defeat, during a discussion on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said: “I truly believe, man, that the next batting superstar of India is Abhishek Sharma. See, he doesn’t have a problem exactly, not a problem, but a challenge. “Problem” is a very big word. His challenge is to be able to control that downswing. I was reading somewhere that he still talks to Brian Lara because Lara had a huge backlift. His bat swing was magnificent too, so Abhishek spoke to Lara about controlling that bat swing to be able to play Test cricket.”
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“So just think about his mindset, it’s ticking at that level. Even that day in Canberra, when the match was washed out, he was talking to Shubman Gill. From his gestures, it looked like he was talking about the bat swing and the pull shot. I even have a screenshot from the last game; he was a bit late on the pull shot then. But in this game, he made that correction. He found a way to get it over the top,” he further added.
However, Ravichandran Ashwin said that during the second T20I, the Australian bowlers bowled tight lines, but Abhishek Sharma played them brilliantly.
“All said and done, that bat swing, he actually stepped out today, charged down the track, and Australia bowled really well too. They were bowling tight lines, fuller lengths, taking the pace off. But that full ball, especially when you charge at a fast bowler and they try to bowl a yorker, you don’t have width to free your arms. Yet, he was still able to open up his arms and hit it over covers for a boundary,” he shared.
“These are all very special abilities that a player possesses. I always say, we all work hard, but to make that hard work shine, you need a little gift, that God-given gift. Abhishek Sharma has that gift. He has the mind to think deeply about the game, and he is just an exceptionally talented batter. I wish I could keep watching him all day long. On a tough pitch and a tough day for India, once again, he gave us a beautiful exhibition of what good batsmanship in T20 cricket looks like,” R Ashwin concluded.
