India’s young opener Abhishek Sharma has not had a great start to his T20I career so far. While he found a place in India’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against England, his performance will be under the scanner.
The young left-hander will be under pressure ahead of the series while another swashbuckling opener Yashasvi Jaiswal waits on the flanks. Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes Jaiswal will not let Abhishek breathe and will grab opportunities with both hands.
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Aakash Chopra feels Yashasvi Jaiswal is keeping Abhishek Sharma on his toes
While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was pleased with the way Abhishek Sharma has been given opportunities, but he feels that Yashasvi Jaiswal will not let him breathe and will make the most of his opportunities if he gets one.
“Abhishek Sharma has been given a vote of confidence, which I liked as he was kept in the team. However, he was hanging by a thin thread. Let’s be fair, Yashasvi Jaiswal is not letting him breathe. He is breathing. his neck and it is absolutely correct,” Chopra said.
The cricketer-turned-commentator further stated that Abhishek Sharma has not made the most of his opportunities so far apart from one good knock each in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
“Just the Ranji Trophy, that’s not a big story. If you look at it from that angle, this is a big opportunity for Abhishek. He hasn’t made the most of his opportunities so far. The century he scored in Zimbabwe was excellent. Then “I made a good game in South Africa,” he explained.
Abhishek Sharma’s numbers in T20Is
Abhishek Sharma has played 12 T20Is so far and scored 256 runs at an average of 23.27 and a strike rate of 171.81. The left-hander has scored a hundred and fifty apiece in his T20I career so far.
The 24-year-old was dismissed for a duck in his first match but bounced back strongly to smash a hundred in his second match. He scored 100 off just 47 balls with 7 fours and 8 sixes. His fifty came in the T20I series against South Africa at Centurion.
Aakash Chopra backs Yashasvi Jaiswal to replace Abhishek Sharma
Aakash Chopra also backed Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the batting in T20Is and called him a “three-format player”. He argued why Jaiswal has not been given opportunities in white-ball formats despite having a perfect game for all forms of cricket.
“He (Yashasvi Jaiswal) is also a left-hander who plays similarly. He is a three-format player and is currently in form. After a while, as an Indian fan, you might start thinking that he won’t get any chance in ODIs.” like Shubman (Gill) and Rohit (Sharma), and then what cricket would he have played when he goes for the Champions Trophy? Chopra pointed out.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has played 19 Tests and 23 T20Is so far. He has a stellar record in Tests with 1798 runs at an average of 52.88. He also has a good T20I record with 723 runs at an average of 36.15 and a strike rate of 164.31.
