Abhishek, Washington: India count all-round gains from Zimbabwe

With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli having retired — all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja too has quit the format — after India beat South Africa to win the T20 World Cup in Barbados last month, the big question is who the selectors see as options to fill the two top-order spots as the team steps into a new era.

Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have all been in the mix to take over from the two batting stalwarts. However, after the five game T20 series win in Zimbabwe, the selectors have another good option — Abhishek Sharma.

A 2024 IPL star, the Sunrisers Hyderabad opener hammered a century in his second international game in Zimbabwe, underlining his batting potential. But what has caught everyone’s attention is his bowling in the five matches. In terms of batting, India have plenty of options but a top-order batter who can bowl is a rare commodity who is on every team’s wish list. Hence the value of Abhishek’s two spells of 1/20 in three overs in the fourth and fifth T20Is played at the weekend bowling left-arm orthodox spin.

For all the success during the Virat-Rohit era in white-ball cricket, it was a period of specialist batters. Teams always prefer batters who can bowl, but the two premier batters have played their cricket without contributing with the ball. Kohli would on rare occasions roll his arm over, but what the team needs is a bowler capable of providing breakthroughs like Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag did, showing the ability to surprise the batters.

Abhishek may not be an automatic pick for the Sri Lanka series, but it will be difficult for captains to ignore the Punjab batter’s claims for a spot in the eleven for long because he lends the balance with his bowling skills.

Speaking at the end of the T20 series which India won 4-1, Abhishek said he knew his bowling gave him the edge over specialist batters. “A special mention to the coaches and Shubman (Gill) who actually believed (in me) after the first two matches (in Zimbabwe) because I didn’t bowl that much and I didn’t bowl well also. So, I thought that giving me the chance with the ball again… I’m always very grateful for that. I’ve been working really hard on my bowling. I knew if I’m going to get my (India) cap, I have to bowl for my team, so I was working on that,” he said.

Washington shines

From the young team in Zimbabwe, India selectors will also be excited about Washington Sundar’s performances. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder was Player-of-the-Series for his bowling exploits, finishing as the joint highest wicket-taker with eight scalps and with the best economy of 5.17. Having an off-spinning all-rounder suits India’s needs as they look for a replacement for Jadeja.

It offers variety to go with the left-arm spin of Axar Patel and chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav. At the World Cup, India were forced to play two left-arm spinners (Jadeja and Axar) merely for depth in batting.

The off-spinner said the key to his success on pace-friendly pitches was imparting extra speed. “I felt after the first game it (conditions) was very similar to South Africa, with extra speed and extra bounce (it helped). Lots of takeaways, lot of learnings, lot of confidence going into the Sri Lanka series.”

Dube’s bowling

The other highlight of the Zimbabwe tour was the bowling of their power-hitter Shivam Dube. The all-rounder lacks pace to be effective on slower sub-continent pitches, but due to his height he can generate extra bounce on pace-friendly pitches overseas, as seen in Zimbabwe. He is working on adding variety to his bowling.

“It’s always special to contribute as an all-rounder, with both bat and ball,” said Dube, who took 2/25 in four overs on Sunday.