Despite failing to find his usual form at the ongoing T20 World Cup, Abhishek Sharma still remains one of India’s key weapons in their upcoming semifinal clash vs England. Speaking ahead of the match, all-rounder Sam Curran revealed that England are wary of the opener’s threat.
Abhishek did rediscover his form against Zimbabwe recently, smacking 55 off 30 balls, but then once again lost his wicket cheaply to the West Indies, departing for 10 off 11 balls. In India’s recent T20I series vs England before the World Cup, Abhishek also got a 37-ball hundred in the final fixture.
‘I hope Abhishek doesn’t produce…’: Sam Curran
Speaking in the pre-match press conference, Curran said, “Well, at the moment our main focus is Thursday night. Of course, I hope Abhishek doesn’t produce the same kind of knock again. But we are very well prepared for the game, and our attention is firmly on Thursday night.”
Abhishek began his T20 World Cup campaign with three consecutive ducks, followed by 15 off 12 runs vs South Africa. He has only managed 80 runs from six innings in the ongoing tournament, and will look to bounce back to form against England.
Meanwhile, even Aussie legend Ricky Ponting feels that Abhishek could bounce back to form in the upcoming semifinal clash. Speaking during The ICC Review, he said, “Sometimes, when you’re going through a bit of a slump like that, it is not always best just to go into the nets every day and bat for an hour and a half. Sometimes it is better off to let these guys just have a couple of days away, like mentally freshen up. The skills do not go anywhere. You do not lose your skills.”
“But in a tournament like this, when you are consistently and constantly under pressure and the results are not coming, sometimes just leaving your bag zipped up, turning up the training, getting a little bit of bowling done, getting your fielding done, but not actually batting and almost starving yourself of going back into the nets. I think Abhishek’s got something up his sleeve for the semi-final,” he added.