Team India will be keen to clinch the series after taking a 2-1 lead in Indore as they face the West Indies in Hyderabad in the fourth T20I of the five-match series. Cheteshwar Pujara shared his thoughts on Abhishek Sharma’s magnificent run in T20Is, Ishan Kishan’s form in the series so far, and Naman Dhir’s performances with the ball.
Cheteshwar Pujara reflected on Team India’s defence of 223 in Indore in the third T20I:
“I think India did a great job because they needed to come up with a good game plan after getting defeated in Ranchi. As captain, Shreyas Iyer corrected those mistakes and was talking to his bowlers as to how to bowl and what strategy they could use to defend the total. The execution by the bowlers was spot-on. A captain always looks good when his players do their job for the team. But yes, Shreyas showed good maturity, and so did the Indian bowlers.”
On Abhishek Sharma reaching the milestone of 2000 T20I runs:
“Nobody thought that he would cross such a big milestone so quickly. But the way Abhishek has performed, I think he is probably one of the best T20 players the Indian team has had so far. His name will be remembered for a long time. When we talk about the T20 format, we immediately think of Chris Gayle from the West Indies. Abhishek has that kind of ability. The way he showed maturity, especially in Indore, by taking a little time, even though five-six balls is a lot of time for him, shows that he is understanding his game a little better, recognising the opposition’s strengths, and batting accordingly. Now, in Hyderabad, he has played a lot on that ground, and that experience and familiarity matter, even in T20s.”
On Ishan Kishan’s form in the series so far:
“Coming in at number 3, Ishan Kishan is giving the Indian team what they need. I don’t think you will see a big score every time because everyone in the top order is an explosive player. Their role is only to give the team a good start and to utilise the powerplay to the maximum. So, whenever Ishan Kishan comes out to bat, he has maximised the powerplay, and after that, if you want him to accelerate, he has scored those quickfire 30-40 runs as well. I think that’s good enough. Maybe, for his personal milestones, you might want him to score big runs, but he is doing the job for the team at the moment.”
On Naman Dhir’s emergence as a bowler:
“Naman has shown that he has great control and has the ability to pick up wickets. He is aware of what the batsman is doing and how he can get his wicket. Mostly, he keeps the ball on the stumps and wants to cramp the batsman, like he did with Kamil Pooran in the last game, where he was hit for three sixes. The execution was not that good on the first two deliveries, but he stuck to his plan, adjusted his line a bit, and got the wicket. It’s great game awareness. And if you look at his speed, these speeds are quite slow for a spinner in the T20 format, so that shows that he is varying his pace constantly, deceiving the batsman with variations in line and length, and he understands his own strength as a bowler.”
