'Not really much you could really do besides be defensive' against Abhishek Sharma, says Shamar Springer

Abhishek Sharma was at his ruthless best at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore as India faced West Indies in the third T20I. The flamboyant opener batted with supreme confidence and tore the Windies bowling attack apart. Abhishek smashed 69 off just 30 deliveries, including six fours and five sixes. His strike rate of 230.00 was the highest among the Indian batters and helped set up yet another 200-plus total for the hosts.

West Indies struggled to contain Abhishek, with bowling all-rounder Shamar Springer admitting there was little they could have done to dismiss him and that they were ultimately forced to adopt a defensive approach.

"He's a world-class player," Springer said at the post-match press conference. "Kudos to him, for sure. I guess our Plan B was to be as defensive as possible and try to restrict him to singles and twos rather than boundaries. Nothing too extravagant.

"It was just a matter of trying to pull him back and be as defensive as possible. That was really it because there's not much control you can have in conditions like these.

"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 can do besides being defensive."

India posted 223 in their 20 overs and managed proceedings far better than the tourists. Although they too leaked runs at times, India eventually restricted West Indies to 209. Springer praised the hosts for executing their plans well and applying pressure at crucial stages of the chase.

"I thought the Indian guys executed their plans really well today in the middle overs. They kind of stifled us and eventually left us with too many runs to get at the end," Springer added. "We thought the wicket would play a little better. The ball kept a bit lower than we expected.

"We also thought there might be some dew in the second innings, but there wasn't really any. As I said, the nature of the wicket was a little low and the Indian bowlers used the surface much better than we did."