Abhishek Sharma Reveals Counterstrategy To Nullify West Indies' Plan Against Him

Abhishek Sharma in press conference after 3rd T20I vs West Indies© BCCI

India opening batter Abhishek Sharma was brilliant with the bat in the third T20I against West Indies. As India lost Sanju Samson early, Abhishek took the onus upon himself to orchestrate a fiery partnership with Ishan Kishan. The two southpaws went on to add 108 runs for the second wicket, with Abhishek scoring 69 off just 30 balls on Sunday. Throughout his stay in the middle, Abhishek looked to have deliberately targeted the point and cover region to score runs. When asked about the same in the press conference, the left-handed opening batter said that it was a part of the counter-strategy he had developed to nullify the plan West Indies bowlers had created against him.

Since making his debut for India, Abhishek has developed a reputation for being a batter who takes the attack to the opponent bowler and looks to hit big sixes. On Sunday, the 26-year-old added a few fours to his game too, showcasing his adaptability while maintaining the scoring rate.

"I wouldn't say it was deliberate, but I would say that it was there in my mind that they had a plan against me," Abhishek said when asked if hitting through the cover and point region was a deliberate plan on the day.

"And obviously, an off-spinner was bowling me the first over. So, it was just a battle between him and me. And as I said in the post-innings interview as well, so I gave him respect in the first over because I think he's bowling really well in this series. So, it's just the plan went pretty well for me as well because in the powerplay only I was trying to just get a few runs. And obviously, they had a plan for me, and I had to, you know, play better than that. That's it," he added.

In this series, West Indies have outscored India in terms of scoring sixes. But, when it comes to fours, India sit on top. To put things into context, India have hit about 28 sixes so far this series while West Indies have hit 42 sixes. India, however, have more fours. When asked if this was also a deliberate strategy, Abhishek said that it's the first that he had heard of this statistic.

"No sir, you just told us right now, told me right now. I didn't know about this. But of course, I feel it's not about hitting sixes; it's about getting that big over whenever you can. If you get that start, I feel it doesn't matter if you hit a four or six. The thing that matters is if you can convert that into a big over, and that's what our plan is always. If we get in the power play or maybe the first, second, or any over, we try to just get that big over in between," he responded.

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