Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel has applauded Abhishek Sharma for playing well in the T20I series against Australia. He added that Sharma didn’t try to clear the fielders in the deep on the big Australian grounds as well. However, Abhishek scored an unbeaten 23 off 13 deliveries in the fifth T20I against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday, November 8 before getting washed out.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Parthiv Patel said, “Abhishek is known for six-hitting. The one thing that was seen on this tour is that it’s not like he is trying to swing blindly off every ball. I saw the maturity in how to play the field. In India, the grounds are generally small. So you have the confidence that even if there is a fielder at deep square leg, you will clear him and you will get a six. However, here, if the boundary is 75 or 80 meters, it doesn’t get cleared that easily. Then you have to hit shots in the pockets. You have to hit shots where the fielders aren’t there. You saw that in Abhishek Sharma’s innings in Melbourne and today as well. He was making room and hitting in the areas where the fielders weren’t there.”

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In the same discussion, Parthiv Patel also stated that Abhishek Sharma would continue to play aggressively, despite being his dismissals might be frustrating some times.

“He will play like this only. There will be frustration at times as to whether there was any need to hit another six when two fours and a six had already come. However, I feel he will play in that fashion only. The day he plays 12-13 overs, India will mostly win that match because he bats with a strike rate like that. The one good thing is that he has scored more than 1,000 runs, and with this style only. So you see consistency along with high-risk, high-reward cricket in Abhishek’s batting,” Parthiv Patel concluded.