Sunil Gavaskar lauds Abhishek Sharma’s knock in 1st T20I against Afghanistan

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on Abhishek Sharma after India registered a comprehensive seven-wicket win against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Sunday. Chasing 157 runs for the win, Abhishek scored a blistering knock of 82 runs off just 32 balls with the help of seven fours and as many sixes.

The left-hander scored his runs at a whirlwind strike rate of 256.25 as he batted at the top of his game and was able to hit the ground running. 

“He has got such great timing. His follow-through goes right behind, just like Yuvraj. When Yuvraj hit that ball, it invariably went into the stands. Very seldom did you see a Yuvraj Singh six which went just over the boundary rope. He (Abhishek) was giving catching practice more to the crowd and the parking attendants than to the ball boys,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Sony Sports.

The former Indian opener said Abhishek can take the opposition attacks to the cleaners.

“He has got this capability of destroying attacks, taking the initiative, and destroying the bowler’s confidence. That’s why you have got to be prepared to accept that there will be times when he will not be scoring runs,” he observed.

The former Indian skipper added that Abhishek Sharma is a match-winner for India as he has performed consistently in T20Is.

“A couple of sixes that he hit off Noor (Ahmad) were off perfectly good deliveries. It’s a rare ability to hit good balls for boundaries and sixes, and he has that ability, which is the reason he is a game-changer. He is a game-breaker as well,” he said.

The Little Master added that the batting depth allows Abhishek and Sanju Samson to play with an aggressive approach from the get-go.

“He got 11 runs in three innings in Zimbabwe, but when you have the batting lineup that India has, you actually want this kind of an approach in the first half a dozen overs when there are just two fielders outside, because you still have the capability to recover. You don’t want to lose three wickets for 30 runs in the first six overs, but if you have somebody like him and even Sanju, if they get going, it’s going to be amazing,” Gavaskar observed.

The second T20I between India and Afghanistan will be played on Tuesday in Delhi.