Abhishek, who had earlier impressed with a half-century against Zimbabwe, managed just 10 off 11 balls in the high-pressure encounter. Pathan pointed out technical flaws in the dismissal.
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Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has raised concerns over Abhishek Sharma’s batting technique despite India sealing a semi-final berth at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, while also lauding youngster Tilak Varma for his crucial cameo against the West Indies.
India booked their sixth semi-final appearance in the tournament with a five-wicket win over the West Indies cricket team in what was effectively a virtual quarter-final.
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Abhishek, who had earlier impressed with a half-century against Zimbabwe, managed just 10 off 11 balls in the high-pressure encounter. Pathan pointed out technical flaws in the dismissal.
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“One concern is Abhishek Sharma’s form again. After that fifty, it felt like he would continue making runs, but when he went for that shot, his back knee was bent too much and his body weight was falling backwards. Ideally, more weight should have been on the front foot, as that suits him better,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel.
After India opted to field, Roston Chase (40 off 25) and skipper Shai Hope (32 off 33) stitched a 68-run opening stand. Despite slipping to 119/4 in 14.1 overs, thanks in part to a quickfire 27 from Shimron Hetmyer, the West Indies finished strongly.
Jason Holder (37* off 22) and Nicholas Pooran (34* off 19) added a blistering 76-run partnership in just 35 balls to lift the total to 195/4. Jasprit Bumrah led India’s bowling effort with 2/36.
India’s chase began shakily at 41/2 in the powerplay before a 58-run partnership between Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav (18) steadied the innings.
Tilak Varma then played a decisive 27 off 15 balls, striking five boundaries and a six to swing momentum back in India’s favour.
“Tilak Varma’s 27-run innings was very crucial. When he came in, Roston Chase started bowling. Initially it seemed he was taking time, but they took 17 runs off Shamar Joseph’s next over and regained momentum. Tilak likes pace, and that showed,” Pathan said.
India eventually completed the chase with four balls to spare, with contributions from Hardik Pandya (17) and Shivam Dube (8*).
Pathan also stressed that Suryakumar Yadav, India’s leading run-scorer in the tournament with 231 runs in seven innings, must convert promising starts into substantial knocks.
“Suryakumar will need to score runs against bigger teams. That is something he must keep in mind,” he added.
India will now face the England cricket team in the semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
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