After getting dismissed for three successive ducks previously there was lot of pressure on Abhishek Sharma to fire. He did manage to get off the blocks by scoring 15 off 12 balls in India’s Super Eight match in Ahmedabad on Sunday, but never looked convincing. Moreover, the Proteas bowlers made his life difficult by bowling tight line.
Abhishek fell to a well-executed knuckleball by Marco Jansen, which induced a top edge to mid-wicket. Sunil Gavaskar lauded the South Africa bowlers to sticking to a plan while bowling to the left-handed batter.
“The fluency is not there at the moment. In the nets, you know you’ll face the next ball even if you get out on the first. But in a match, it’s a completely different story. That pressure can almost freeze you, restricting the free movement of the arms when aiming for a big shot. He got a little stuck there, and South Africa bowled very cleverly. They know he likes to make room and play through the off-side, so look at Rabada, he kept targeting the pads relentlessly, even after conceding a six,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying on Star Sports after the match.
India’s one-dimensional batting was heavily exposed in Ahmedabad where the batters were expected to adapt on a slow surface. South Africa read the pitch quickly and adjusted their shot selection to post 187. But India’s batting came undone against South Africa’s disciplined bowling attack and were bundled out for 111 in 18.5 overs. Gavaskar slammed the Indian batters for poor shot selection.
“Yes, if you look at the way Dewald Brevis and David Miller rebuilt the South African innings, they played a lot more shots in the ‘V’, especially when the short ball was used. They adjusted really well. They realised the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat as quickly as expected — it was holding up slightly in the surface. Having seen how they constructed their innings and built that partnership, that was the kind of approach that was needed, rather than simply throwing the bat at just about everything,” Gavaskar said.
