Abhishek Sharma Twists His Ankle, Doubtful For IND vs ENG 2nd T20I: Report
Abhishek Sharma twisted his ankle [Source: @eshika_nagpal/X]
All-rounder Abhishek Sharma twisted his ankle during practice to become an uncertainty ahead of the second India-England T20I in Chennai tomorrow. With BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) yet to provide an official update, it remains to be seen if wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson will get a new opening partner or not.
If a report in The Indian Express is to be believed, Abhishek Sharma harmed his ankle during warm-up on the eve of the match. Attended by the physio immediately, the southpaw was later seen limping at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Had Sharma batted in the nets, he wouldn’t have been an injury concern less than 24 hours before the match. However, the injury didn’t allow him to bat on Friday. Sharma, 24, scored 79 (34) with the help of five fours and eight sixes at a strike rate of 232.35 to seal a 133-run target in the 13th over in the first T20I at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
Who Will Replace Abhishek Sharma In Chennai T20I?
As far as a like-for-like replacement is concerned, all-rounder Washington Sundar is the closest to replace Sharma in the Playing XI. However, the chances of him opening the batting remains scanty.
During the course of his 83-match international career, Sundar has faced the new ball just once. Having partnered ODI captain Rohit Sharma at the top against Australia, the left-handed batter had scored 18 (30) in a losing cause.
That said, Sundar had opened for Tamil Nadu during Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2017/18 scoring 190 runs at an average and strike rate of 23.75 and 126.66 respectively across nine innings.
Alternatively, India could also include wicket-keeper batter Dhruv Jurel in place of Sharma. Yet to open the batting in international cricket, Jurel’s sole T20 innings at the top had come during his debut for Uttar Pradesh against Punjab four years ago.