It is about putting Abhishek under pressure: NZ pacer Henry

Abhishek Sharma might be giving nightmares to bowlers around the world, but lead New Zealand pacer Matt Henry has a simple game plan for the Indian opener — keep him under pressure with relentless accuracy. Henry had dismissed Abhishek for a golden duck at Visakhapatnam in the fourth T20I, which went a long way in facilitating the Kiwis’ 50-run win.

“He’s been playing brilliantly over the last two years and he’s been taking to attacks, not just in international cricket but in IPL as well. I think for us it’s just about how you’re putting him under pressure,” Henry told the media on the eve of the fifth and final T20I here. “It’s challenging from a bowling point of view but the key thing is how do you come back when you have a mixed over, how do you have an impact on the game and not worry about those things?

“I think it all comes back down to accuracy. You have to be accurate at what you’re doing and you’re just trying to put your best foot forward,” he added. Henry hoped that the experience of playing in India will come handy for New Zealand in the upcoming T20 World Cup. “For me, T20 cricket is about confidence...How do you keep coming back and challenging batters when you’re under pressure? How do you find a way to make it work?

But if you keep turning up, you keep learning and I think that’s probably a highlight of this series for us.  “It’s never nice being put under that kind of pressure but we knew that the long-term picture was getting prepared for a World Cup and how do you put teams under pressure when they’re flying like that.

“So, it was all positive gains from our point of view and we’re just really pleased that the guys could still stay confident going into that last game. I think that is a true testament of character of the group,” Henry said. Since the retirement of Tim Southee and Trent Boult across the last two years, Henry has been leading New Zealand in all three formats. It’s a job Henry does with pride, but he also understands the pitfalls that await him.

“I think it’s obviously a big toll on the body. I think the scheduling of cricket is getting tighter and tighter as well so that presents different challenges.  “We’ve got some young guys getting some new experiences here and we’ve got other guys that have been here too. From my point of view, it’s great having a well-balanced squad. In terms of us all three forms, it’s great to be able to have so much depth,” he elaborated.

But Henry was certain that the bowlers will have to resort to variations in T20s to stay ahead of modern day batters. “How do you, I suppose, get the batters to make a mistake when things are probably in their favour? So you’re just trying to, I suppose, whether you’re playing on the crease, creating variations, changing your pace but as I said it’s all about variations,” he said.