'Not much you can do': Springer on 'world-class' Abhishek Sharma
What's the story
West Indies pacer Shamar Springer has spoken about the challenges of playing against India's Abhishek Sharma in the ongoing T20I series. He said that the dew factor was expected to play a major role in their defeat in the third T20I at Indore, but the dew just didn't arrive. The West Indies team lost by 14 runs while chasing 224, slipping to 1-2 in the five-match series.
Match analysis
Springer on India's performance
West Indies opted to bowl first, hoping dew would make bowling difficult in the second half, especially for spinners.
However, the dew didn't arrive as expected.
Springer said India executed their strategy well and left them with too many runs to chase down.
"I thought that the Indian guys really executed it well today in the middle, kind of stifled us and left us with eventually too much runs at the end," Springer said at the press conference.
Player spotlight
Abhishek is a world-class player, says Springer
Springer praised Abhishek Sharma's performance, calling him a "world-class player." The latter scored a blistering 69 off just 30 balls.
"I guess our Plan B was to just be as defensive as possible and try to make him get singles and twos rather than boundaries. Nothing too extravagant," Springer said.
Springer admitted there wasn't much control they could have over such high-quality players on good wickets.
"I mean, the wickets are so good and those players are world-class players. They're the best for a reason. So, there's not really much you could do besides be defensive."
Game strategy
Chase vs Abhishek
The contest between Abhishek and Roston Chase was intense.
Chase had dismissed Abhishek in the first two T20Is with his offspin, but here, Abhishek was more cautious at first.
However, he later decided to take on Chase and send him out of the attack for a while.
Springer praised Chase's contribution to their team as someone who brings stability and control to both batting and bowling departments.