India captain Suryakumar Yadav heaped praise on Abhishek Sharma for his ferocious batting display at Melbourne Cricket Ground in the second T20I against Australia. Abhishek was the only saving grace for India in the batting department on Friday, as it was a one-man show from him, where he scored 68 runs out of the 125. The left-handed batter didn't shy away from taking on the bowlers on a tricky pitch where other Indian batters struggled to get going.
The swashbuckling batter reached his half-century in just 23 balls, while his knock was laced with eight fours and a couple of sixes.
Suryakumar was all praise for young Abhishek after his explosive knock against Australia, lauding his maturity and consistency. Surya highlighted how Abhishek’s confidence in his own game has been the key to his rapid rise in international cricket.
"Abhishek has been doing this for quite some time now. He knows his game and his identity and he is not changing it anymore and hopefully he sticks to it and plays many more knocks like this for us," Suryakumar said in the post-match presentation.
'Difficult to recover': Suryakumar Yadav on Josh Hazlewood's spell
The Indian skipper further talked about Josh Hazlewood, who ran riot with the new ball to dismantle the visitors' batting line-up.
{{/usCountry}}The Indian skipper further talked about Josh Hazlewood, who ran riot with the new ball to dismantle the visitors' batting line-up.
{{/usCountry}}"The way he bowled in the powerplay, if you're four down in the powerplay it's difficult to recover from that. Well bowled to him.
Suryakumar also stressed the importance of sticking to their original game plan, urging his side to replicate the intent and execution from the opening match — strong batting first, followed by disciplined bowling to defend totals.
"I think we need to do what we did in the first game. Bat well when batting first and then come out and defend," he added.
Chasing a modest target of 126, Australia made light work of the run chase, wrapping it up with 40 balls remaining after opting to bowl first. Despite India’s struggles with the bat, there were a few bright spots — Abhishek's fighting knock stood out, while Varun Chakravarthy impressed with a tidy spell of 2/23 in his four overs. Jasprit Bumrah, too, showcased his trademark precision, cleaning up Matthew Short with a perfect yorker that briefly lifted India’s spirits in an otherwise one-sided contest.