India trained in full view of a noisy New York crowd on Monday, but the loudest sounds still came from Abhishek Sharma’s bat. For half an hour the left-hander practised what he preaches – high-tempo, high-risk strokes – despite arriving at this World Cup with two balls faced, two dismissals and nothing on the scorecard.
He began against Arshdeep Singh. Twice he backed away because a bank of flag-waving fans were in his eyeline; twice he restarted, widening his stance before launching into baseball-style swings. Three clean hits sailed straight back past the bowler. A fourth ball, a slower one, nipped through and Arshdeep celebrated by gesturing to team-mates on the sidelines. Abhishek grinned, left the net for a quick glove-punch, returned with fresh bats and asked for spin.
Cue Gautam Gambhir, who stood just behind the stumps while Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav operated in turn. Fielders were positioned in the coach’s imagination – point deep, mid-on up – to mirror what India expect first up from Aryan Dutt when they face the Netherlands on Wednesday. One miscued slog apart, the drill looked reassuringly crisp. Even through the Perspex of the press box, every “thhak” was unmistakable.
That soundtrack matched the public message from batting coach Sitanshu Kotak. Asked whether back-to-back ducks were a worry, Kotak replied: “The one thing we definitely don’t unnecessarily do is over-analyse. Sometimes you [as batters] start making more assumptions than the opposition do. He has his plans sorted, he follows the way he wants to, and obviously we discuss the opposition, their bowling, their strengths, what they’ve been doing – all that is normal for everyone, not just Abhishek.”
Since January 2024, Abhishek has struck at 206.59 against spin in T20 internationals, comfortably India’s fastest in that period among players who have faced 100 deliveries. The approach is deliberate: clear the infield early and keep the run-rate from sagging when most sides slow down.
Illness complicated the picture. A stomach bug ruled him out of the Namibia match. Either side of that, Ali Khan had him caught at deep cover by the lone sweeper, and Pakistan brought spin inside the powerplay, Salman Agha inducing a mishit to mid-on. Patterns are visible; panic is not.
“Before he fell ill, he made runs. In the T20 format also, sometimes a 10-ball 30 is as important,” Kotak reminded reporters. “It’s not like he hasn’t scored runs. T20 format is high-ris…”
The sentence trailed off as Kotak took another question, yet the gist was clear: boundaries matter more than average. Within the camp the numbers support that stance. India’s preferred pairing of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli offers stability; Abhishek’s brief is surge-and-sprint.
Wednesday’s surface at St George’s Park is expected to grip, which increases the temptation for the Dutch to throw Dutt the new ball. India’s analysts have clipped every one of the off-spinner’s powerplay overs; Abhishek has clipped the footage too, though he tends to prefer feel over forensic study.
There is still a risk-reward equation. A third early exit would sharpen outside noise, while an 18-ball 40 could break the contest open. Either outcome, the management insist, is priced in.
What neither side can quantify is the energy with which Abhishek practised on Monday. When the session ended he lingered, inspected a fresh strip, and discussed angles with Gambhir before jogging off to the outfield. The clatter of the crowd remained, but by then the bat was silent – job, for the day at least, done.
