When Abhishek Sharma blasted through his big shots at nets in Colombo on Saturday, the Indian think tank’s foreheads may have lost a few wrinkles.
The powerful opener’s availability for Sunday’s encounter against bitter rivals Pakistan was clouded by the fact that he had to miss the match against Namibia and spent a day in a private hospital in New Delhi due to a stomach ailment.
However, the left-hander batted at the RPICS nets for nearly half an hour without displaying any indications of fatigue, even though light but continuous rain disrupted India’s training session, forcing the squad to use indoor nets.
In a symbolic warning to the array of Pakistani spinners led by the unconventional Usman Tariq, Abhishek batted first up against Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy, slamming both spinners to the far corners of the Premadasa stadium.
The 25-year-old moved to the left-side nets to tackle pacers after he had finished batting against spinners. He performed an equally fluid job, hauling his teammates and local bowlers with reckless abandon. Apart from trying to attack bowlers, there wasn’t much foot movement, but his quick hands and ability to judge length made up for it.
Before the recent fifth Twenty20 International match against New Zealand in Thiruvananthapuram, India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak had described Abhishek’s strategy.
“He is someone who plays a lot of shots, but his shots don’t seem like slogging. He is playing more on the merit of the ball. I feel it’s very important when you are an aggressive batsman, and you are trying to play maximum shots on the merit of the ball,” PTI had quoted Kotak as saying.
The Saurashtra batting mainstay was amply validated by Abhishek’s net session that day.
Abhishek’s readiness to play against the cross-border foes was also subtly confirmed by captain Suryakumar Yadav a few minutes before India’s batting session.
“Okay, if you want him to play, then we will play him tomorrow. All the worries are over?” he said with a wide smile.
Due to Abhishek’s recuperation, Sanju Samson will need to leave the starting lineup for the Punjab dasher to join the highly effective Ishan Kishan in the opening slot for Sunday’s match.
Salman Agha, the captain of Pakistan, was also aware of Abhishek’s impending return, but he said he would rather plan for India as a team than concentrate on specific players.
