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Cricket PlayersAbhishek Sharma found out or the current slump is going to make a man of him?
After his three successive ducks, fans are worried that India's new hitman Abhishek Sharma might not be what he has been made out to be.
Just when everyone was convinced that Abhishek Sharma was ready to own the global stage of cricket in a big way, sorry to say, he flattered to deceive.
In the ongoing T20 World Cup, the 25-year-old left-handed opener has had nightmares innings after innings. Believe it or not, he has three ducks to his name, and three matches is all he has played. There was one outing against Namibia in which he didn’t feature having contracted a stomach bug.
This World Cup has shown that Abhishek’s honeymoon in international cricket is over. Now he has to make changes to his style and technique to last longer.
That’s nothing out-of-the-ordinary requirement though.
That’s what all top players do. At the start, everyone is an unknown entity and invariably they make the most of their novelty as oppositions tend to rack their brains.
Cricket is kind of a game of chess. Abhishek drew first blood in the first couple of years of his international cricket. The oppositions have now figured him out, and now it’s his turn again to surprise them with adjustments.
The pitches too have played a role in his dismal show in the ongoing event. They are not the kind of wickets which support his type of batting. Yes, once in a while you can defy the odds like Ishan Kishan did against Pakistan on a very tricky wicket but remember that’s once in a while. One has to respect the conditions. Some of the other Indian batsmen also struggled in those matches, make no mistake. The match against the USA is a shining example of that.
For the first time in his international career, Abhishek should be asking himself if he wasn’t going too far with his shot-making; if the time had come for him to drop anchor, at times when the pitches don’t favour his style of batting.
On the whole, the hiccup in his form isn't worrisome. He is too good a player to be kept quiet for long. If there were any elements of complacency in his batting in the league stages since Pakistan was the only Test-playing nation in the group, rest assured it won't exist in the Super 8s where India find themselves paired with South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe. To stress the point, Zimbabwe is the team that kick-started the ouster of one of the pre-event favourites - yes, none other than Australia.
West Indies too have shocked England in a group game. As a footnote, the presence of Kishan at the other end may also have added to his complacency.
So, just the sheer magnitude of the Super 8s is likely to bring Abhishek down a peg or two. If he can keep his complacency and the tendency to smash the ball over the rope right from the get-go at bay, the glory is his for sure.
When all is said and done, one should not read too much into his ducks.
