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Former England batter Kevin Pietersen has heaped praises on India opener Abhishek Sharma for his ferocious 135-run knock against England in the fifth T20I played at the Wankhede Stadium. The iconic venue witnessed India’s best T20I innings as the 24-year-old took England’s bowling attack to the cleaners and surpassed Shubman Gill’s 126-run feat against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, which was the highest individual score for India in cricket’s shortest form.
After witnessing Abhishek’s batting brilliance in Mumbai, Pietersen didn’t shy away from comparing the youngster with former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh.
Appearing on Star Sports, Pietersen drew parallels between the young opener and Yuvraj, saying, "Abishek is amazing. He had the shades (of Yuvraj).... Obviously, Yuvraj is rubbing off now on Abhishek. His batting was fantastic. It was the best T20 international innings, I've ever seen and I said that to him afterwards.”
Former England stalwart also highlighted the southpaw’s strokeplaying ability, saying there were no unconventional shots during his stellar innings.
Pietersen said, "It was effortless. The stroke play was great, there was no funky shots, no ramping, no sweeping, reverse sweeping. It was just perfection."
Pietersen criticises England’s T20I performance and praises BCCI for the Varun move
Attending the launch of Dram Bell Scotch Whisky, Pietersen called out England for their dismal performance in the recently-concluded five-match T20I series, following the Jos Buttler-led side’s drubbing by 4-1 at the hands of the Men in Blue. He berated England’s decision of not choosing a like-for-like concussion substitute as he felt the laxity from the English team management went against the side eventually.
Pietersen also hailed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decision of inducting leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy in India’s ODI squad. However, he also felt England batters can acclimatise to the leggie’s spin in the 50-over format.
