Abhishek Sharma had an impressive innings despite other Indian batters struggling against Australia bowlers in the 2nd T20I played on October 31 at Melbourne.

He went on to score 68 runs off 37 deliveries at a strike rate of 183.78 runs in India’s subpar total of 125 against Australia.

After being invited to bat first, Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill opened the innings, while Josh Hazlewood opened the bowling attack.

Hazlewood picked the wicket of Shubman Gill for 5 runs, while Ellis bagged the wicket of Sanju Samson for 2 runs.

Hazlewood bagged the wickets of Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma for 1 and 0, leaving India to lose four wickets for 40 runs.

Axar Patel‘s run out for 7 runs put India in a tough spot, losing 5 wickets for 49 runs. Meantime, Abishek Sharma went on to slam fifty. Harshit Rana joined Abhishek Sharma, showing some resistance and amassed 35 runs in the middle overs, but Xavier Bartlett sent out a celebration by dismissing Rana.

He went on to bag the wicket of Shivam Dube for 4 runs, and Kuldeep Yadav was sent back to the dugout for 0.

Nathan Ellis sent out Abhishek Sharma for 68 runs, after which Jasprit Bumrah got dismissed in the dugout. India scored only 125 runs, losing all 10 wickets with 8 balls remaining in their innings.

Speaking at the toss, Mitchell Marsh said, “We are going to bowl first. (Pitch) Looks like a good one, hopefully it won’t change for 40 overs. We have one change – Short comes in for Philippe.”

Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav said, “We are happy to bat first. That is the brand of cricket (aggressive) we want to play. Shubman knows how to score runs. With him, you have to run hard between the wickets as well. We are playing the same team.”

AUS vs IND 2nd T20I Playing 11

Australia Playing 11: Mitchell Marsh(c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis(w), Tim David, Matthew Short, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood

India Playing 11: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah