Colombo, February 14 A few worries might have disappeared from the faces of the Indian think tank, watching Abhishek Sharma effortlessly hit boundaries at the nets here on Saturday.
The powerful opener had to miss the match against Namibia and spent a day at a private hospital in New Delhi due to a stomach ailment, casting a shadow on his availability for the match against arch-rivals Pakistan here on Sunday.
However, the left-handed batsman showed no signs of fatigue while batting at the RPICS nets for almost 30 minutes.
India’s training session, however, was hampered by light but persistent rain, forcing the team members to use the indoor nets here.
Abhishek first batted against spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy, smashing both spinners to the far corners of the Premadasa stadium, sending a symbolic warning to the array of Pakistani spinners led by the unorthodox Usman Tariq.
Once finished batting against the spinners, the 25-year-old then moved to the left-side nets to tackle the pacers, and performed equally well, effortlessly hitting boundaries against his teammates and local bowlers.
There was very little footwork, except when trying to attack bowlers, but his fast hands and ability to judge length compensated for it.
India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak had explained Abhishek's approach 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 slog. He is playing more on the merit of the ball,” Kotak had said.
Abhishek’s net session on the day was a perfect validation of the Saurashtra batting stalwart.
A few minutes before India’s batting session, captain Suryakumar Yadav also 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 way for him in the eleven, allowing Ishan Kishan to reunite with him as an opener 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.
