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Former India opener Virender Sehwag has an out-of-the-box advice for Indian team management to get the best out of a struggling Abhishek Sharma. Sehwag doesn't want Abhishek to change his technique last-minute or do away with the aggressive mindset. He wants Abhishek to be pushed to no.3 spot and let Ishan Kishan open the innings alongside Sanju Samson.
There have been calls to drop Abhishek from the side as he has managed to score just 89 runs from seven games at a strike rate of 130.88. But Sehwag believes that batting at no.3 won’t do any harm to his aggressive brand of cricket as he can clear any ground once he starts getting into the hitting zone.
"In my opinion, open the batting with Ishan Kishan and play Abhishek Sharma at No.3. Even that can be done, because he does not care whether it is the powerplay or not. When he hits, it goes out of the ground only, so it does not make a difference to him," Virender Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
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Sehwag recalled how his former captain Sourav Ganguly pushed him down the order when he was going through a rough patch. Upon performing in the middle order, Ganguly promoted him to the opener role again.
"It has happened to me also, when I was not scoring runs, Dada (Sourav Ganguly) pushed me down to No.4 in the middle order. When I scored 30-40 runs, then I was back at the top of the order again," he added.
Abhishek trains to take down Kiwi off-spinners
Abhishek has struggled against off-spinners. In the semifinal, England’s Will Jacks got him caught at the deep. New Zealand have two such spinners in their lineup. Either Cole McConchie or Glenn Phillips can be used to do the job in the powerplay overs against Abhishek. The struggling opener was seen practising against off-spinners on the eve of the final.
Zaheer wants Surya at no.3
After Sehwag’s suggestion to bat Abhishek at no.3, Zaheer Khan expressed his opinion on who can bat at the position if the New Zealand try to dominate with off-spin. He backs skipper Suryakumar Yadav to do the role. Suryakumar has a splendid record against New Zealand in the format as well.
"We saw McConchie dismiss both de Kock and Rickelton in a single over in the semifinal, and if India want to avoid having two left-handers together, then even Surya can bat at No.3. It remains to be seen how proactive they are. So, you may see some changes in the batting order, but not in the playing XI," Zaheer said during the same conversations.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar has dismissed the threat posed by Kiwi off-spinners. He is happy to carry on like India have in the tournament even if the strike rate against them is as low as 120.
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