Aakash Chopra backs Abhishek Sharma despite inconsistent returns against West Indies

Aakash Chopra has played down concerns over Abhishek Sharma’s inconsistent returns against the West Indies, saying aggressive batters cannot score heavily in every outing. Chopra cited the opener’s performances against Afghanistan and urged caution against judging him on a short run.

New Delhi: Former India opener Aakash Chopra has played down concerns over Abhishek Sharma’s returns in the recently concluded T20I series against the West Indies, saying inconsistent performances are an inevitable part of an aggressive batting approach.

Reflecting on the left-hander’s campaign after India and the West Indies shared the five-match series 2-2, Chopra pointed out that a batter operating at a strike rate of around 200 cannot be expected to deliver substantial scores in every outing.

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Abhishek, known for his attacking approach at the top of the order, did not enjoy the kind of consistency that has characterised some of his recent performances. Chopra acknowledged that the opener was below his usual standards but cautioned against drawing conclusions from a limited run of matches.

“In the last game, when he didn’t get many strikes, he looked a bit scratchy. He didn’t get any rhythm at all, and let’s discount whatever happened in this game. So, he was a bit below par by his standards in the series, but that is also going to happen,” Chopra told JioStar.

Drawing a contrast between Abhishek’s recent returns, Chopra highlighted how dramatically a batter’s fortunes can change from one series to another. The youngster had produced prolific scores against Afghanistan, including a century and a 70, but those performances should not become the benchmark for every subsequent assignment.

“That is another reality of the brand of cricket you play. You will always find that there might be a series, like the one against Afghanistan recently, where he scored a hundred in one game and a 70 in another, but then there will be another series where he would have a soft dismissal in one game, then another soft dismissal, play one good innings, and then get dismissed by a good delivery in another.

“These things are going to happen. Anyone who plays at a strike rate of 200 is bound to have a few games like these. That he will keep getting runs consistently – that is our misconception,” he added.