‘He is a prisoner of his own reputation’ – Aakash Chopra on Abhishek Sharma’s dipping form

Aakash Chopra and Abhishek Sharma. (Photo Sourced: X(Twitter/Aakash Chopra and BCCI)

Following India’s win in the first T20I against South Africa on Friday, former India opener Aakash Chopra spoke about the contrasting fates of two Indian batters, particularly on Abhishek Sharma’s form slump.

The 24-year-old, who debuted with a duck but followed it up with a brilliant century against Zimbabwe, scoring 100 off just 47 balls in his second T20I appearance, has since failed to replicate that magic. In the match at Durban, Sharma managed to add just seven runs from eight deliveries before falling to Gerald Coetzee, which was caught brilliantly by Aiden Markram at mid-off. On his YouTube channel, Chopra spoke about Sanju Samson’s brilliant batting (107 off 50 balls) in the same match and Sharma’s declining form.

“It’s a tale of two openers. There is Sanju (Samson), whose stars are shining bright, on one side. On the other side is Abhishek Sharma, whose stars have fallen. When he had struck a century against Zimbabwe, he was that shining new bright star,” he said.

Outside of his century against Zimbabwe, his highest score in seven T20I innings is 16. Chopra feels that Sharma’s ultra-aggressive approach might be not going in his favor for the time being.

“However, after that, he has fallen drastically. The shot he played in this match as well against Gerald Coetzee, it seems like he is a prisoner of his own reputation, that he would play like this only and is not going to wait,” Chopra added.

Also Read: Sanju Samson becomes joint 7th fastest India batter to complete 7000 T20 runs

India registered a 61-run win and have gone 1-0 up in the series

While the young opener is likely to retain his position for the remaining three matches in the series, his position in the team could come under question if the pattern of early dismissals continues.

“It’s been one more failure. A time will come when it will be a problem. Questions will be asked about how long will you stick with him. Again, he will get three more games, but one by one the sand is being seen slipping from his hand,” Chopra concluded.

In the match, the visitors posted 202/8 after batting first, largely due to Samson’s second T20I ton. Indian bowlers, particularly spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakravarthy, who claimed three wickets each, then restricted the Proteas to 141, registering a comfortable 61-run victory and a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

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