IND vs ENG: Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson — Two different tales, and a young prodigy waiting in the wings

Abhishek Sharma (L) with Sanju Samson (R). (PC: BCCI)

Almost every single time Abhishek Sharma fails in T20 cricket, the following line makes its presence felt on social media platforms — the left-hand batter is a flat-track bully. For starters, the nature of the T20 format is such that the wickets range anywhere between good to motorways; pitches where the batters end up playing on the up and through the line. 

 

The subplot to such a hypothesis is that even when confronted with decks that offer a hint of assistance, the willowy opener has had some success. Let’s consider the following examples to illustrate the point: Abhishek’s 68 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground —  hint of nip and tennis-ball bounce, his 49 in Belfast — tennis-ball bounce and a touch of nip, alongside 74, 75 and 61 in the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates — slower decks. 

 

The ultra-aggressive batter continued to showcase his skill sets at the Riverside Stadium, in the opening T20I against England, with a quick-fire fifty. Here, too, the ball was seaming around a touch upfront, and the conditions were a little bit tacky.

 

Let’s also analyse his batting through the technical lens. An agricultural hoick can be described as the bat merely following the instructions of the initial trigger —  clearing the front leg and smacking it across the line. With Abhishek, however, the bat is akin to an additional wing to his initial movements. The way he manufactures room and opens the bat face capsulises this theory.

 

It was a quintessential innings from Abhishek. With a bat-swing that comes more from the gully region, he explored different parts of the ground.  His cameo didn’t just ensure that England’s early advantage of picking up a couple of wickets was negated, but it also helped the new skipper Shreyas Iyer to get his eye in. 

 

Even if you glance through Abhishek’s numbers, it sets the narrative for his game-breaking traits. Abhishek’s strike rate in the Powerplay overs in T20Is is around 192 but even after the powerplay overs, it is as high as 212.6. The main reason for Abhishek being able to ramp up his strike rate after the first six overs is his eye-popping game against spin. The detractors might still observe that Abhishek has had issues versus hard-length bowling. But when a batter is having an impressive strike rate of 193.25 and an average of 33.60, then he must be doing something right. 

 

Meanwhile, Sanju Samson, Abhishek’s teammate, is under pressure after failing for the third time in a row. A young prodigy by the name, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, is also waiting in the wings. The Indian think-tank, though, looks set to back Samson to the hilt. In some ways, it is logical as Samson was the player of the tournament in the T20 World Cup. Although his critics would point to inconsistency. 

 

Just peel the outside layer of the coating and the concluding line for the trio of Abhishek, Samson and Ishan Kishan could be — Vaibhav’s genius gene is lurking around the corner and the twosome have to keep performing. Simply put, it is a happy headache for the Indian think-tank to have that kind of astounding depth in white-ball cricket.

 

Brief scores: India 189/7 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 68, Abhishek Sharma 59; Saqib Mahmood 3/33) vs England – No result.

 

 

 

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