Opener Abhishek Sharma is known for his attacking batting style, and India skipper Suryakumar Yadav feels that he must keep going like that. The 25-year-old was the brightest spark of India's top order as he made, among others, a blazing 37-ball 68, while the rest of the lineup disintegrated, and India were dismissed for a below-par 125 in 18.4 overs. Australia achieved the target in only 13.2 overs and thus were able to secure the second T20I by 4 wickets.
India's innings led by Abhishek Sharma, as Suryakumar Yadav praises him
“He (Abhishek) has been doing this for quite some time now. He knows his game and his identity,” Suryakumar said at the post-match presentation. “He is not changing it anymore, and hopefully he sticks to it and plays many more knocks like this for us.”
The Indian captain also credited Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood (3/13) for his brilliant spell in the powerplay, which left India reeling. “The way he bowled in the powerplay, if you’re four down in the powerplay, it’s difficult to recover from that. Well bowled,” he added.
On lessons from the loss, Suryakumar said, “I think we need to do what we did in the first game: bat well when batting first and then come out and defend.” In the series opener at Canberra, India were well placed at 97 for 1 in 9.4 overs before rain intervened, with Suryakumar and Shubman Gill unbeaten on 37 and 39, respectively.
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh also praised Hazlewood’s performance. “It was a good toss to win. A bit of moisture, and Hoff (Hazlewood) is a great bowler when there’s something in it. Wanted to take a couple of wickets early,” he said. On reaching 2,000 T20I runs with a score of 46, Marsh added, “I was a bit nervous but got going in the end. Head took the pressure off. Should be a good three games to come.”
Man-of-the-match Hazlewood, who will miss the remaining three T20Is, said he felt comfortable across formats and is ready for the upcoming Ashes series starting November 21. “Just trying to put the ball in the right areas and see what happens. Everything feels in a good place and ready to go. Nathan Ellis does his job every time, bowls some tough overs. We’ll have a lot of quicks fighting for spots soon. Going to head home tomorrow, still time to prepare for the Shield Game, then head to Perth for the first Test,” he added.
(By PTI Inputs)
