The Abhishek issue: Will Markram or left-armer Linde start against him?
A stomach bug that drained his system, sluggish wickets that don’t particularly respond to expansive bat swings or is it the emergence of some hitherto unknown technical weakness against spinners? What ails Abhishek Sharma in the ongoing T20 World Cup is as much a talking point as India’s seamless campaign despite his three consecutive ducks.
But those who have closely tracked the format and the man, who is made for the format, are willing to vouch that “form is temporary, his confidence is permanent” and a big one is just around the corner in the Super Eight stage. The prolific opener with a monstrous strike rate of 192-plus is enduring a sudden lean patch, which can primarily be attributed to his return to competitive cricket less than a week after hospitalisation.
The slow pitches haven’t helped his cause either. So far, the team’s collective might has successfully ensured that results are not impacted, but with the Super Eights set to take off on Saturday, it would be crucial that his bat talks loudly. India take on South Africa on February 22 in their opening match of the stage. And having keenly observed his previous dismissals, Proteas skipper Aiden Markram might be tempted to bowl his brisk off-breaks inside the Powerplay or ask his slow left-arm orthodox colleague George Linde to keep things tight, instead of starting with Kagiso Rabada or Lungi Ngidi from both ends.
With the margin for error wafer-thin in the shortest format, the qualitative gap between legacy cricketing nations and the proverbial minnows has narrowed considerably. Hence, Abhishek’s inability to open his T20 World Cup account is not alarming. It could well be the game against South Africa where he rediscovers his rhythm, or the Zimbabwe game in Chennai after that, not to forget the West Indies match in Kolkata.
In the first league game, USA quick Ali Khan set a straight-field trap by placing a deep cover for his favoured lofted cover drive. Subsequently, off-spinners Salman Ali Agha and Aryan Dutt accounted for the prolific southpaw during a wretched run. But it is perhaps not off-spin particularly that is proving to be Abhishek’s Achilles heel. Rather, it is the slowness of surfaces at the Wankhede, Colombo and Motera that has undone him.
A noted IPL franchise batting coach, who has analysed and devised game plans against Abhishek during the league, sought to set the record straight. Asked if teams have finally decoded Abhishek’s batting, his response was a clear no. “Not at all. Caught at deep extra cover (first game) was a bad ball which could have gone for six, or left or right of the fielder by a foot and it’s four,” the noted batting coach, who did not wish to be named, said while assessing all three dismissals.
“Bowled to an incoming ball from the off-spinner, as opposed to one turning away, doesn’t suggest much. And caught at mid-on is neither here nor there,” he added. He also indicated that prior to these dismissals, there is no data to suggest that off-spinners trouble him perennially. “He normally plays off-spin quite well. I haven’t noticed anything untoward,” the coach said.
However, the sluggish nature of the wickets could be his undoing because of his expansive bat swing, which brings him immense success on pace-friendly tracks. Any batting coach worth his salt will tell that “pace-off deliveries” — slower bouncers, cutters and knuckle balls — are always an issue for a player like Abhishek, who possesses a deep bat swing and prefers going after the ball relentlessly.
For Abhishek, since the start of his international career, this is the first phase where he is confronting sustained challenges. Understandably, there has been some self-doubt and superstition to go with it, evident in him wearing Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj’s jerseys, perhaps in a bid to invite a slice of luck. This is where batting coach Sitanshu Kotak’s role becomes crucial.
In a boom-or-bust format like T20, the lack of turnaround time gives a player little opportunity to reboot emotionally, at times, the upside is not having the mental bandwidth to over-analyse the failures that come along. Given his confident persona, Abhishek isn’t the one to be shaken by a few disappointments but he would know that a significant part of India’s T20 World Cup campaign hinges on the starts that he provides.
A small statistical nugget might help him in case he needs inspiration. The legendary Sachin Tendulkar was once dismissed for three consecutive ducks, followed by an eight in ODIs back in 1994 across the Singer Cup and a tri-nation series. In the fifth match, the ‘Little Master’ smashed 115 against New Zealand and the tide turned dramatically. Abhishek would look to be in that elite company and be back with a bang.
