New Delhi, October 18, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Former India opener Aakash Chopra has played down concerns over Abhishek Sharma’s performance in the recently concluded T20I series against the West Indies, saying inconsistency is an inevitable part of an aggressive batting approach.
Reflecting on the left-hander’s campaign after India and the West Indies shared the five-match series 2-2, Chopra pointed out that a batter operating at a strike rate of around 200 cannot be expected to score heavily in every match.
Known for his attacking approach at the top of the order, Abhishek did not display the consistency seen in some of his recent performances. Chopra acknowledged that the opener had fallen below his usual standards but cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from a limited run of matches.
“In the last game, when he didn’t get many strikes, he looked a bit scratchy. He didn’t get any rhythm at all, and let’s discount whatever happened in this game. So, he was a bit below par by his standards in the series, but that is also going to happen,” Chopra told JioStar.
Highlighting the fluctuations that come with an aggressive style of batting, Chopra contrasted Abhishek’s recent returns with his prolific performances against Afghanistan, where the youngster scored a century and a 70.
He said those big scores should not become the benchmark for every subsequent assignment, as even an in-form batter can experience a series marked by early dismissals and inconsistent performances.
“That is another reality of the brand of cricket you play. You will always find that there might be a series, like the one against Afghanistan recently, where he scored a hundred in one game and a 70 in another, but then there will be another series where he would have a soft dismissal in one game, then another soft dismissal, play one good innings, and then get dismissed by a good delivery in another,” Chopra said.
“These things are going to happen. Anyone who plays at a strike rate of 200 is bound to have a few games like these. That he will keep getting runs consistently – that is our misconception,” he added.
Chopra’s assessment underlined the risks associated with Abhishek’s high-tempo batting style, suggesting that occasional lean patches are part of the approach rather than necessarily indicating a larger problem.
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