Abhishek Sharma has endured a difficult run in the T20 World Cup, with his campaign slipping further with each passing match. Apart from a half-century against Zimbabwe, the left-hander has struggled to make an impact with the bat. Tipped by many as one of India’s MVPs in the T20 World Cup, his tournament was disrupted early by a stomach infection that set him back.
He began the competition with three consecutive ducks and has crossed the 20-run mark only once since. The semi-final against England didn't bring any relief, as he managed just nine before falling to Will Jacks. His dismissal of the off-spinner also continued a worrying trend that has troubled him throughout the tournament.
Former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir, who has criticised Abhishek since the start of the tournament and even called him a slogger, doubled down on his take after his another flop show on Thursday.
Amir weighed in on Abhishek's struggles in the tournament, pointing out that ICC events leave little room to hide technical flaws. The former Pakistan pacer explained that opposition teams study players far more closely in global tournaments, identifying strengths and weaknesses before putting targeted plans in place.
"Look, there is a world of difference between a bilateral series and an ICC event. In a series, teams maybe don’t focus in the same way; they think, okay, in this series we have to try out players, that’s where their focus is, and they don’t mark players that intensely. But when you come into ICC events, every team marks every player they are going to face. By now, everyone has figured out which are Abhishek Sharma’s strong areas and which are his weak zones. You can see he gets stuck even against off-spinners, and when a fast bowler comes in and keeps targeting his body with the ball, he struggles. So to perform in international cricket, especially in big events, you have to be very strong technically and mentally," Amir said on Geo News.
{{/usCountry}}"Look, there is a world of difference between a bilateral series and an ICC event. In a series, teams maybe don’t focus in the same way; they think, okay, in this series we have to try out players, that’s where their focus is, and they don’t mark players that intensely. But when you come into ICC events, every team marks every player they are going to face. By now, everyone has figured out which are Abhishek Sharma’s strong areas and which are his weak zones. You can see he gets stuck even against off-spinners, and when a fast bowler comes in and keeps targeting his body with the ball, he struggles. So to perform in international cricket, especially in big events, you have to be very strong technically and mentally," Amir said on Geo News.
{{/usCountry}}Amir points out why Samson is performing
As the discussion around Abhishek's struggles continued, Amir contrasted his situation with Samson's success, stressing that modern T20 cricket leaves little room for one-dimensional batters and rewards those who can score all around the ground.
"Now, why is Sanju Samson performing? Because if you look at his background, first look at his technique, then look at his first-class career, then his IPL career, he can play all around the wicket. A one-dimensional player, as I said at the start, doesn’t work in T20 anymore. You have to play all around. Look at Betthel's innings: when the spinner comes on, he is reverse-hitting him as well; off the first two balls, he hit two sixes to Varun Chakravarthy, and off the third ball, he hit a six with a reverse sweep. Win might get caught out as well, I feel; Win doesn’t play all around, but he has one or two shots in every area. But now one-dimensional players simply cannot survive in cricket; you have to play in every direction, you need 360-degree players," he added.