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IND vs AUS 2nd T20I: Ex-India cricketer Irrfan Pathan has slammed India's star opener Abhishek Sharma for his lack of game awareness against Australia in the 2nd T20I on Friday. Patha has revealed that Abhishek did start his knock brilliantly, but should have continued in the same way after the power play.

The visitors posted a meager target of 125 runs in the first innings on a tricky pitch, which had bounce, where Josh Hazlewood rattled India's top-order by taking three wickets with the new ball. Abhishek Sharma was India's highest run scorer as he had scored 68 runs. He batted at a better strike rate of 29 post the powerplay, but it did go down once, and the team suffered a collapse.

“Abhishek Sharma once again showed that while everyone else seemed to be batting on one pitch, he was batting on another. It was a brilliant half-century, a superb innings, but if you look closely, you’ll notice it had two parts. During the power play, he batted beautifully, but after it ended, he should have continued with the same intent and awareness, which he didn’t." Pathan was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.

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The visitors had sent in the young Harshit Rana at No.7 position when they were reeling at 49/5 before Shivam Dube, and he also played a huge role when Abhishek's strike rate dropped and he scored a below-par innings of 33 runs off 35 balls. But Pathan was of the view that Harshit did his job and that Abhishek should have taken advantage of the other end.

“Harshit did his job. He ensured the team didn’t lose another wicket and managed a decent 35-run knock. As a lower-order batter, that’s all you can ask for. You can talk about strike rate later, but he did what was required. Now, what was Abhishek Sharma’s responsibility there? The powerplay went well, he played freely, and even when wickets fell around him, he stayed composed. But during that stand, most of the strike went to Harshit Rana — Abhishek faced only 14 balls out of 47. That’s where he needed to take charge. No doubt he’s India’s No. 1 T20 batter at the moment, but he must show better game awareness," he said.

Abhishek, too, was asked about this in the post-match press conference and said that playing aggressively was their initial plan, but then it changed as per the situation.

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“First of all, obviously, I play according to the team plan. Our team plans to dominate the top order. But today, I think it was a little unexpected for us. They caught the spot as bowlers; their line and lengths were perfect. And when cricketers are falling in front of you, no matter who you are, you have to play a little for the team," he said.

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