The left-handed opener emerged top-scorer with a fighting 68 but Australia romped home by four wickets
India’s Abhishek Sharma during his 68 against Australia in Melbourne on Friday. PIC/AP; PTI
Young opener Abhishek Sharma admitted that India’s batting unit was caught slightly off guard by the extra bounce and disciplined bowling in Australian conditions after a testing T20I match here on Friday. Playing his maiden international series in Australia, Abhishek said the visitors had anticipated pace and bounce but were still surprised by how effectively the home bowlers exploited the conditions.
The left-handed opener emerged top-scorer with a fighting 68 but Australia romped home by four wickets. “The challenge is that a lot of players, including me, are on their first tour here. We knew about the extra bounce and pace, but still the way they bowled, surprised us,” Abhishek said at the post-match press conference. “They were very disciplined with their line and length, credit goes to them.”
Abhishek said the team’s aggressive top-order plan had to be adjusted once wickets began to fall early. “Our plan was to dominate up front, but it was a little unexpected for us. When wickets are falling in front of you, no matter who the batter is, you have to play for the team. The wicket was difficult, it wasn’t easy to hit shots,” he said.
Brief scores
India 125 all out in 18.4 overs (A Sharma 68, H Rana 35; J Hazlewood 3-13, N Ellis 2-21, X Bartlett 2-39) lost to Australia 126-6 in 13.2 overs (M Marsh 46; V Chakravarthy 2-23, J Bumrah 2-26, K Yadav 2-45) by four wickets
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