Abhishek Sharma created a stir with a blistering innings in the Punjab Inter-District Senior League match. Playing for the Amritsar senior team, he smashed 233 runs off just 91 balls against Tarn Taran. Played at a strike rate of 256.04, he smashed 15 fours and 25 towering sixes. This impressive performance from the young left-handed batsman comes at a time when he is struggling with poor form in international cricket. The scorecard and photos of his batting from this match are going viral on social media.
On the basis of this fiery innings of Abhishek, his team scored a huge score of 533 runs at the loss of 8 wickets in the stipulated 50 overs.
The batsman, who has slipped from No. 1 to No. 3 in the ICC T20I rankings, had a disappointing recent tour of Zimbabwe. He managed just 11 runs in three innings at a meager average of 3.66. However, this isn’t just a single series; his poor form has been ongoing for the past few months.
In his recent records, he scored 131 runs in five T20Is against England at an average of 26.2. In his two matches against Ireland, he managed only 49 runs at an average of 24.5. In his last 10 T20I innings, he has scored just one fifty.
But even more worrying than his lack of runs is the manner in which he’s been dismissed. In all three matches against Zimbabwe, he was dismissed by Blessing Muzarabani. In the first match, Abhishek swung his bat at a ball going outside the off stump and gave a simple catch on the boundary.
In the second match, he tried to play a rising ball and was caught straight at backward point. And in the third, he tried to create room against the angle and the ball took the edge of his bat and went into the wicketkeeper’s hands, after which he walked out shaking his head in disappointment.
While the shots were different, the mistake was the same. He looked completely uneasy against the fast deliveries outside off-stump. It’s worth noting that the opposition wasn’t Australia or South Africa, but Zimbabwe. The series, which was supposed to be a chance for Abhishek to regain his confidence, instead only exacerbated his difficulties.
Zimbabwe came into the field fully prepared. They opened the innings with Sikandar Raza’s off-spin—the same kind of bowling that had troubled Abhishek during the T20 World Cup. And when he was able to escape the spin, Muzarabani finished the innings with his pace.
This decline is clearly visible in their figures also.
Before the T20 World Cup, Abhishek averaged 37.05 and had a strike rate of around 195. But since then, his average has dropped to 19.4, while his strike rate has also dropped to 165.
He’s looking a bit unsteady on the field at the moment. The aggressive style he was once known for has lost its edge, and the consistency that was expected from him hasn’t been evident yet.
The post 233 runs, 25 sixes, and 15 fours! Abhishek Sharma’s stormy return from a poor form spell, smashing a double century in just 91 balls appeared first on Tezzbuzz.