Mumbai, Sep 27 Former Pakistan greats Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram on Saturday lent their advice to bowlers of the current team on how to get out early, dashing Indian opener Abhishek Sharma in Sunday’s final of the Men's T20 Asia Cup in Dubai. The 25-year-old left-handed batter is in devastating form and has so far compiled the highest aggregate of 309 runs in six innings with a whopping strike rate of 204.63.
It's clear that the Pakistani think tank has targeted Abhishek as the danger man and wants to get him back into the dugout as early as possible on Sunday.
Abhishek smashed a 39-ball 74 against Pakistan in the Super 4s clash and a fiery 31 in their first encounter in the league stage. Abhishek has been especially brutal against Pakistan’s spearhead, Shaheen Shah Afridi. He hit 22 runs off Shaheen with two sixes and as many boundaries. In the second match, Sharma took nine off six balls with a six.
Waqar Younis, remembered for his toe-crusher yorkers, told Telecom Asia Sport that Abhishek is a real talent and advised the Pakistan bowlers to exploit the pressure on the batter to get him early.
“Abhishek is a real talent and can take the game away in the first few overs, but everyone has a weakness, and although he is in a good knick, there always comes a bad day, maybe it’s on Sunday.”
“There will be pressure on Abhishek in the final, so if Pakistani bowlers bowl with clarity and plan, they can get him out early,” Waqar told www.telecomasia.net on Saturday.
According to a report, Waqar’s partner, Wasim Akram, said Shaheen Afridi needs to bowl length deliveries to Abhishek to trouble him. “In both the matches, Shaheen bowled full length, so he needed to change the length and try to move the ball from the back of the length,” the report quoted Akram as advising the bowlers.
Another former pacer, Mohammad Amir, said he would target Abhishek Sharma’s stumps, the report said.
“I think a good bowler should not allow him to open his arms by bowling within the stumps,” Amir told www.telecomasia.net. “Bowl a swinging delivery four to five metres from the stumps, which may force an edge. Swing within the stumps and I have seen Mitchell Starc getting him out in the IPL with an out-swinger from the middle and off.”
Amir said that slower deliveries can also be effective against the Indian opener. “Abhishek plays with hard hands, and that’s why if you bowl a perfect slower one, his shot may get in the air in the circle.”
Amir’s former pace partner, Mohammad Asif, believes Abhishek can be dismissed early on. “You have to read every batter,” Asif told Telecom Asia Sport from the United States. “Bowl him three deliveries at the same spot and I can bet he will play the first two and then get out on the third. But if you bowl different deliveries and try too hard, you cannot succeed.”
Amir also questioned Shaheen's selection of the first delivery to Abhishek in the previous India-Pakistan encounter. “How on earth can you bowl him a bouncer first ball, which Shaheen did in the second match?”
Meanwhile, Pakistan team’s video analyst Mohammad Talha has prepared a detailed video of Abhishek’s dismissals in the IPL and the Asia Cup for his bowlers. Pakistan's bowling coach, Ashley Nolfke, is also giving tips to pacers on how to bowl to Abhishek.
But whether they would be able to execute their plans and how the Indian batter tackles them in the final.
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