Former India opener Kris Srikkanth believes opposition teams have worked out Abhishek Sharma and that India’s selectors need to take a firm decision at the top of the T20I order.
Form dip after a stellar IPL
Abhishek reached the top of the ICC Men’s T20I batting rankings in July last year. This season’s IPL was outstanding for him, with nearly 600 runs at an average of 40.21 and a strike rate of 204.73. That form has not carried over to India duty, where he struggled at the T20 World Cup earlier this year and has had another difficult spell since.
Against England he played all five T20Is and made 131 runs at 26.20. On the following Zimbabwe tour his scores were 1, 8 and 2.
The Samson argument
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said the issue has been obvious since the World Cup, and he is almost certain selectors, led by Ajit Agarkar, will recall Sanju Samson.
Samson played a key part in India’s T20 World Cup triumph this year but was dropped during the England series when teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi came in. After three successive low scores from the 15-year-old, Samson returned for the fifth and final T20I in Southampton and hit 27 off 14 balls.
Sooryavanshi keeps pushing
Sooryavanshi has since scored two half-centuries in three matches against Zimbabwe and was named Player of the Series. With competition for opening places growing, selectors face an important choice before India’s next T20I assignment.
