'Not everyone has this ability' - Irfan Pathan praises Abhishek Sharma's knock in 1st T20I vs England

Former India cricketers Irfan Pathan and Saba Karim lauded Abhishek Sharma for his whirlwind knock against England in the first T20I on Wednesday, July 1.

At the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street, Abhishek amassed 59 runs off just 24 balls, hitting six fours and four sixes. He helped India reach 189/7 in 20 overs. However, the match ended without a result due to rain.

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan praised Abhishek for not changing the aggressive approach he has to batting, which comes to him naturally.

"Even before the match had started, we were saying that his approach should not change because he has the ability to play aggressively. The control he has over the bat, the way he manoeuvres it, not everyone has this ability. However, Abhishek Sharma has it," Pathan said during a discussion on JioHotstar.

The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that conditions won't matter for Abhishek if he knows beforehand about the variations a bowler has in his repertoire.

"In the same over, he played straight, turned the bat and hit square of the wicket, and then played the pull shot very easily. He should only know which bowler is coming with which variation against him. If he knows that, the conditions won't matter to him, because then he can wait," Chopra observed.

Saba Karim said that Abhishek is expected to play blistering knocks and not give himself time to adapt to conditions like many other batters. The former said that Abhishek might fail in some games but he shouldn't change his aggressive batting template.

"Such knocks are expected from him. If you expect Abhishek to adapt to the conditions and play shots after taking a little time, this place is not made for him. His job is to score runs at a high strike rate, which has always been India's vision. A few failures might come in between, but you shouldn't change your template to score runs," he said.

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Karim was particularly impressed by how busy Abhishek was at the crease, giving himself room to hit towards the off-side and using his feet to disrupt the lines and lengths of the spinners.

"The way he made room against the pace bowlers, moved towards the leg side against short balls, played inside-out shots and the upper cut, and used his feet brilliantly against the spinners, he did the job expected from him perfectly. This is what makes him different," Saba observed.