MUMBAI: Ravi Shastri believes India too will “take off” in next month’s T20 World Cup if their explosive opener Abhishek Sharma fires, while Kevin Pietersen hailed the lefthander as a “proper star”.
In another splendid exhibition of his ultra-explosive approach, the world No. 1 Abhishek hammered a 35-ball 84 with eight sixes and five fours in India’s 48-run win in the opening T20I against New Zealand in Nagpur on Wednesday.
“Abhishek, without a shadow of a doubt. (He’s the) No. 1 T20 batsman in the world (and is) in a rich vein of form,” Shastri said when asked who would be the most impactful player in the upcoming T20 global showpiece beginning on February 7.
“Last evening (on Wednesday), he took the game away from New Zealand. You’ve got to watch out for him because his confidence level is high.”
“He’ll be backed by the home crowd and if he takes off, it means India take off,” he said at an event to mark the launch of partnership between Marriott Bonvoy and the ICC.
Shastri said it is crucial for coaches and players to accept criticism but it should in a positive vein.
“I prefer criticism that is constructive (and) when I became a broadcaster, I said I’ve divorced the dressing room and I will speak on what I see. It doesn’t matter if you were my colleague or you were my friend when I was playing the game,” he said.
“But that’s something you expect. In my tenure, there were good moments and there were rough moments. You just have to take it in your stride because you know there is another game coming up.”
“One day you are in a pole position. The next day you are in a troll position. That can happen. But in a week, you can see all three. You can be in pole, troll, again pole,” he added.
PTI