IND vs SA Super 8s: India captain Suryakumar Yadav played down concerns and voiced his backing for opener Abhishek Sharma, who has struggled to make an impact in the T20 World Cup, failing to score a run in three innings.
Despite the opener's beleaguered form, the Indian captain has ruled out any modifications to the team, muting the assumption that Sanju Samson could replace him for the Super 8 clash against South Africa in Ahmedabad.
"Those who worry about Abhishek Sharma form, I worry about them: ‘Why do you worry so much about his form?’. I am worrying about the teams that will face him now, because he hasn’t scored yet," the Indian skipper said during the pre-match press conference on Saturday at Narendra Modi Stadium.
"The rest of the answer you know, you know what happens when he goes big. It happens, it’s a team sport. It’s the team’s requirement that he plays according to his identity. He is trying to do that. If it clicks, great. If it doesn’t, we are there to cover for him. Last year, he covered for us. This time, let us do it," Suryakumar said.
Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel's assertion that the team management isn't dwelling on the opener's struggles.
"Absolutely no discussion in our team group about that. He is a world-class player. So far in the tournament, luckily, we've had other guys standing up with Abhishek not scoring the runs you would like. We are going through a very important phase of the World Cup now, and I'm pretty sure he's going to deliver," Morkel said on Friday.
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Abhishek stature in the team is likely to ensure continued backing, despite Sanju Samson's availability.
"You want me to play him (Samson) in place of Abhishek? In place of Tilak? See, we want to score high also. We are preparing for it," said the captain.