"Abhishek Sharma Shouldn't Have Played": World Cup-Winner Drops Surprising Remark On India Opener

Abishek Sharma's selection criticised by ex-India star© BCCI/Creimas

Abhishek Sharma was India's top run-getter in the opening match of the T20I series against Afghanistan on Sunday, slamming an 82-run knock. India steamrolled past hosts Afghanistan in the contest, once again exposing the quality gap in the two sides. However, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, a World Cup winner in 1983 with the Indian team, has said that the management shouldn't have picked Abhishek in the playing XI for the match. For Srikkanth, the opening pair should've been Sanju Samson and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said that Abhishek should've been dropped from the team as he hadn't scored in the last 6 outings for the national team, irrespective of the fact that he scored 82 in the match.

"Abhishek Sharma actually shouldn't have played this game on form. But he smashed Afghanistan yesterday and batted brilliantly. Though he didn't score in the previous six innings, everyone will remember only this 82 and forget the rest," he stressed.

Abhishek is expected to remain in the Indian team for the second T20I against Afghanistan too, opening the batting with Sanju Samson. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, in all likelihood, is expected to warm the bench again.

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Srikkanth then went on to laud Ishan Kishan, who recently led the East Zone to the Duleep Trophy title by scoring a 270-run knock in the final. While Ishan has become an important player for the Indian team in white-ball cricket, Srikkanth wants him to be added to the Test squad too.

"He (Kishan) has been unbelievable, coming from domestic cricket. He is smashing a 270 in the Duleep Trophy final, which is brilliant. Now he is surely a strong contender for the Test team. He is scoring so much that he has to be in the reckoning for the Indian Test squad. He is scoring in every format and has to be in the mix of things in Test cricket," said Srikkanth.

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