With India facing a must-win T20 World Cup match against Zimbabwe, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has expressed support for under-pressure opener Abhishek Sharma and number three Tilak Varma, saying both are close to delivering.
India are coming off a 76-run defeat to South Africa in Ahmedabad and need a win against Zimbabwe on Thursday to stay in contention. They will also partly depend on South Africa finishing the Super Eight stage unbeaten. The struggles of Abhishek and Tilak, especially against off-spin, have hurt India’s campaign.
Abhishek, the world number one T20I batter, entered the South Africa game after three consecutive ducks in the tournament. He scored 15 off 12 balls but failed to convert the start. The left-hander continued to attack but could not build an innings. Tilak, meanwhile, has scored 107 runs in five innings at an average of around 21, with a strike rate just above 118.
“We lost one game only, it was a good game for them (South Africa), we did not bat well. Abhishek looked good in the last game; overthinking about one individual does not make sense. It puts too much pressure on them.
Our job is to keep him in a good frame of mind. So when he was scoring 80, 70, 90 in 30 balls, 100 in 40, 50 balls, that time nobody was discussing his game. Once he starts hitting the ball again, you will see the same Abhishek again. There is no doubt. Now, in this game, nobody can give a guarantee that he will do it in the next match. But I think he is not far (from a big score),” said Sitanshu.
Kotak also defended Tilak’s strike rate, referring to his 25 off 24 balls against Pakistan on a Colombo pitch where the team was targeting 175 or more.
“Our planning was right. The ball was spinning there. Ishan gave us a fine start, and after such a start, no team wants to lose three or four wickets quickly. It is a matter of two boundaries for Tilak. Sometimes a batsman does not get those balls. So I don’t think there is a question of run-a-ball. Neither is he instructed (to go at run a ball). Neither does he think so himself. Sometimes, depending on wickets and depending on the situation, I think there was more about partnerships in that game in Colombo. And I think we achieved that,” he concluded.
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