Abhishek Blazes Nets, Teases Return Vs Pakistan!

A few wrinkles might have vanished from the foreheads of the Indian think tank, watching Abhishek Sharma blazing through his big shots at nets in Colombo on Saturday.

The big-hitting opener had to skip the match against Namibia and spent a day at a private hospital in New Delhi because of a stomach bug, casting a shadow on his availability for the match against arch rivals Pakistan on Sunday.

But the left-hander showed no signs of weariness while batting at the RPICS nets for close to 30 minutes.

India's training session was, however, hampered by light but persistent rain, driving the team members to indoor nets.

Abhishek batted against spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy first up, smashing both the spinners to the far corners of Premadasa in a symbolic warning to the array of Pakistan spinners led by unorthodox Usman Tariq.

No issues tackling pacers

Once finished batting against spinners, the 25-year-old shifted to the left-side nets to tackle pacers and did an equally fluent job, carting his teammates and local bowlers with sheer abandon.

There was not much foot movement apart from while trying to give a charge against bowlers, but his fast hands and length-judging ability covered for it.

India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak had explained Abhishek's modus operandi ahead of the recent fifth T20I against New Zealand in Thiruvananthapuram.

"He is someone who plays a lot of shots, but his shots don't seem like slogging. He is playing more on the merit of the ball.

"I feel it's very important when you are an aggressive batsman, and you are trying to play maximum shots on the merit of the ball," Kotak had said.

Surya keeps cards close to his chest

Abhishek's net session on the day was a perfect validation of the Saurashtra batting stalwart.

A few minutes ahead of India's batting session, skipper Suryakumar Yadav too gave a veiled confirmation of Abhishek's readiness to take the field against the cross-border rivals.

"Okay, if you want him to play, then we will play him tomorrow. All the worries are over?" he said with a wide smile.

Abhishek's recovery means that Sanju Samson will have to make the exit from the eleven for the Punjab man to reunite with in-form Ishan Kishan in the openers' slot in Sunday's game.

Pakistan skipper Salman Agha was also aware of Abhishek's imminent return, but he preferred to make plans for India as a team rather than focussing on certain individuals.