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Abhishek Sharma and Harshit Rana were the only batters that gave resistance to a rampant bowling attack by the hosts (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
Captain Suryakumar Yadav threw his weight behind opener Abhishek Sharma’s aggressive batting style after India went down to Australia by four wickets in the second T20I at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. Abhishek was the standout performer in an otherwise disappointing outing for the visitors, smashing 68 off 37 balls as India were bowled out for 125 in 18.4 overs. Australia, led by Mitchell Marsh’s quickfire 46 off 26, chased down the target in just 13.2 overs to level the series.
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Suryakumar praised Abhishek for sticking to his natural game despite the early setbacks and wickets falling steadily beside him. “Abhishek has been doing this for quite some time now. He knows his game and his identity,” the skipper 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 skipper said after the defeat. The captain, however, acknowledged that India’s batting collapse in the powerplay left them little room to recover, crediting Australia’s new-ball attack for exploiting the conditions. “The way he (Hazlewood) bowled in the powerplay, if you're four down in the powerplay it's difficult to recover from that.
Well bowled…” Suryakumar said.
Abhishek Sharma's 68 off 37 was the only ray of hope in an otherwise gloomy outing for the visitors. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)
India lost Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar, and Tilak Varma within the first five overs, with Hazlewood doing most of the damage during a fiery spell of 3 for 13. Abhishek and Harshit Rana later stitched together a 56-run partnership to help India cross the 100-run mark. Reflecting on the defeat, Suryakumar said the team needed to repeat the disciplined approach they showed in the rain-affected first T20I in Canberra.
“I think we need to do what we did in the first game. Bat well when batting first and then come out and defend,” he added. Marsh, meanwhile, credited his bowlers for setting up the win. “It was a good toss to win. Bit of moisture and Hoff (Hazlewood) is a great bowler when there’s something in it,” he said. Man-of-the-match Hazlewood said he was satisfied with his rhythm.
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“So just trying to put the ball in the right areas and see what happens. Everything feels in a good place and ready to go (for the Ashes),” he said.He will play no part in the remainder of the series and will be part of the first Ashes Test, starting November 21.
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