R Ashwin silenced Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir NEW DELHI: Ravichandran Ashwin has defended young Indian batsman Abhishek Sharma after former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir called him “just a midget” during the T20 World Cup. Amir’s remark came after Abhishek was dismissed for three consecutive ducks in the group stage, questioning his technique and suggesting that he lacked defensive play.
India keep T20 World Cup dream alive, now to Kolkata
But Abhishek answered the critics in style during India’s Super 8 match against Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, smashing 55 runs in just 30 balls as India piled up 256/4. His aggressive hitting helped drive the narrative around his tournament.Responding to Amir’s comments on his YouTube channel, Ashwin strongly disagreed. “There is a video of Mohammad Amir doing rounds where he called Abhishek Sharma a slogger. I just want to make one thing clear: you can say anything about his game, but he is not a slogger. He has one of the most enviable batsmen in the game today. We all know Yuvraj Singh is his mentor,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.“He also probably has a better swing of the bat than him. You can’t get a better swing of the bat than this. Whenever Abhishek hits the ball, it goes very far. So people can mistake him for being a slogger. The only thing Abhishek is guilty of is showing intent with every ball.”After Thursday’s knock, Abhishek also admitted that he was waiting for such a performance. “It’s always great when you contribute to the team and I’ve been waiting for this moment for quite a while now so it’s finally happened. I’m really happy… I just wanted to spend some time on the pitch,” he said.He also praised the support of the team. “You’ve done it before and your time isn’t far off. You just believe,” he revealed his teammates told him.
