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Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has expressed concerns over Abhishek Sharma's batting form after the right-handed batter managed just 10 runs off 11 balls against the West Indies in India's latest match. Sharma had impressed earlier in the tournament with a half-century against Zimbabwe, but Pathan believes technical adjustments are needed.
"One concern is Abhishek Sharma's form again. After scoring that fifty, it felt like he would continue making runs, but when he went for that shot, his back knee was bent too much, and his body weight was falling backwards. Ideally, more weight should have been on the front foot, as that suits him better. He will need to pay attention to that," Pathan said on his YouTube channel. In the match, India won the toss and opted to field first. West Indies got off to a strong start with Roston Chase (40 off 25 balls) and skipper Shai Hope (32 off 33 balls) putting together a 68-run opening partnership. However, the visitors slumped to 119/4 in 14.1 overs despite a fiery cameo from Shimron Hetmyer (27 off 12 balls). Jason Holder (37* in 22 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (34* in 19 balls) revived the innings with a 76-run stand in 35 balls, helping the West Indies post a total of 195/4 in the 20 overs. Jasprit Bumrah led India's bowling attack with figures of 2/36, while Varun Chakaravarthy and Hardik Pandya conceded 40 runs each in their four-over spells. During India's chase, the team slipped to 41/2 in the powerplay. A 58-run stand between Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav (18) steadied the innings, before contributions from Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma (27 off 15 balls), Hardik Pandya (17), and Shivam Dube (8*) guided India to a five-wicket victory. Speaking about Suryakumar Yadav, Pathan highlighted the need for the batter to convert starts into big innings. "Suryakumar will need to score runs against bigger teams, and that is something he must keep in mind," he said. Yadav is the leading run-scorer for India in the tournament, amassing 231 runs in seven innings, though he has struggled to produce a substantial knock since his unbeaten 84 against the USA. India will now face England in the semi-finals at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Thursday. (ANI)
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