"He backs his fearlessness with incredible amount of skill": Doeschate on Abhishek Sharma

Dubai [UAE], September 23 (ANI): Ahead of India’s clash against Bangladesh in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup, Indian assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate hailed opener Abhishek Sharma’s fearless approach to T20 batting, saying that he has backed it with an “incredible amount of skill”.

It was Abhishek’s 39-ball 74 and a 105-run stand with vice-captain Shubman Gill that helped India secure a convincing six-wicket win over Pakistan in the Super Four opener of the Asia Cup. Before this, it was his quick cameos powering India to fine starts in the powerplay. He is the top run-getter in the tournament, with 173 runs in four matches at an average of 43.25 with a strike rate of 208.43, with a half-century.

Speaking during the pre-match presser, Doeschate said, “I think fearless is the right word there, but do not forget that’s backed up with an incredible amount of skill. You can be fearless but not have the tools to do it and he has both. The message from the leadership group, from Surya (skipper Suryakumar Yadav) and the coaches, is just keep that.”

“Again, the expectation is that he just keeps and sticks to his process. He is not going to be successful all the time. It is impossible to be playing the type of cricket he plays, but we want him to play that way and keep practising that way,” he added.

Doeschate also said that during his practice, Abhishek “goes at 100 per cent.”

“He is a pretty relaxed guy. He does not say a heck of a lot, but he loves batting and he loves swinging his bat, and that fits in well with what we’re trying to do,” he concluded.

This year, Abhishek has been in red-hot form in T20Is, having made 452 runs in nine innings at an average of 50.22, with a strike rate of 215.23, with a century and two fifties.

Squads:

India Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma

Bangladesh Squad: Saif Hassan, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Litton Das(w/c), Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Nurul Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Rishad Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanzim Hasan Sakib. (ANI)

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