Abhishek Sharma admitted that he was surprised by the kind of bounce that the Australian fast bowlers were extracting from the surface at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but he was also enjoying the challenge of facing them. India, whose ultra-aggressive style of batting has been a key component of their dominant form since winning the 2024 T20 World Cup last year, were all out for 125 runs in the second T20I on Friday.
It was effectively the first full match to be played in the five-match series, with the first T20I in Canberra being washed out, and Abhishek said that it was the first senior tour of Australia for him and many other players in the team. “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, and credit goes to them.”
The left-hander, who opened the innings, 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.”
Abhishek said he enjoyed the challenge of facing Australia’s pace attack on lively surfaces. “As a batter, you want to face world-class bowlers. Some of the deliveries even surprised me — I haven’t seen something like that in T20s before. But I was enjoying the challenge,” he said.
Australia, led by captain Mitchell Marsh, made short work of India’s below-par target of 126 as they waltzed to a 4-wicket victory in just 13.2 overs in the 2nd T20I in Melbourne on Friday. Marsh slammed a 26-ball 46, peppered with 2 fours and 4 sixes as the Indian bowlers couldn’t rein in the big hitting. He was ultimately sent back by Kuldeep Yadav but it was too little, too late. Marsh’s opening partner Travis Head smashed a 15-ball 28 before Varun Chakaravarthy snapped him up.
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