England opener Phil Salt opened up about his admiration for Abhishek Sharma, saying he enjoys watching the Indian opener bat and also labelled India the ‘strongest team’ in the World Cup.
Salt has the second-best strike rate (169.50) in T20Is after Abhishek, who is in a league of his own with a strike rate of 197.30. The English batter said earlier that he used to compete with Suryakumar Yadav, and now it is about catching Abhishek.
“I’d like to catch him,” Salt said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo. “That’s been my goal for a while, even when Suryakumar Yadav was number one. A completely different batter, but I still wanted to catch him.”
Abhishek was dismissed for a golden duck in the fourth T20I against New Zealand, which left Salt disappointed.
“I really like watching him bat, I’ll be honest with you. Last night, I was disappointed because he got out early,” Salt said. “The fact that he can hit the first ball for six like that, the way he runs down the wicket, fights that line from really straight to get it over the off side, but then also hits a ball wide to him over the leg side — it’s completely different. I’m never going to be him. He’s never going to be me. But I do enjoy watching him bat.”
At home, India will be hot favourites to defend their title and become the first team in history to do so.
“I think they are by far and away the strongest team in the World Cup,” Salt said. “And I’m really excited by the idea that we get to come up against them in a World Cup in their own backyard.”
England will play a three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, with Salt set to be in action as the 2022 winners look to win the series and head into the World Cup with momentum behind their backs.
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