‘Lion at home, cat overseas’: Ex-India selector warns Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi over away struggles

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‘Lion at home, cat overseas’: Ex-India selector warns Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi over away struggles originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Sandeep Patil said Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi have struggled once the ball starts moving in overseas matches.
  • Abhishek averaged just 19.1 across the Ireland, England, and Zimbabwe series before his turnaround in Afghanistan series.
  • Patil said he was not surprised by Abhishek's century, given the natural attacking instincts both players possess.

Sandeep Patil takes a dig at India's young batters for struggles in overseas conditions

India's young batting stars have spent the past week celebrating a 3-0 sweep over Afghanistan, but former chief selector Sandeep Patil has used the moment to highlight a pattern he believes needs urgent attention.

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Speaking to SportsNext, the 1983 World Cup winner singled out Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for a tendency to shine at home while fading once conditions turn genuinely difficult abroad.

The context makes Patil's timing pointed rather than reflexive. Abhishek was named Player of the Series after a stunning 30-ball century in the third T20I against Afghanistan, a performance that arrived on the back of a genuinely difficult stretch. 

Across the preceding series against Ireland, England, and Zimbabwe, he had managed just 191 runs in 10 innings at an average of 19.1, with only a single half-century to show for it.

Sooryavanshi, meanwhile, has spent the Afghanistan series on the bench entirely, watching Sanju Samson and Abhishek dominate the opening slot after his struggles against the moving ball in tougher conditions earlier in the year.

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What Sandeep Patil said about Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Head coach Gautam Gambhir has already publicly asked Sooryavanshi to be patient while the team management works out where he fits. Patil was careful to frame his comments as constructive rather than dismissive of either player's talent while still being direct about the specific weakness he has identified.

"With due respect to Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, we have noticed that when they travelled outside India and the ball started moving around a little, they faced some difficulties. These two young players will also have to pay attention to that aspect and work on it," Patil said.

He then delivered the line that captured his broader point most sharply. "Just because you are a lion at home in India, you shouldn't become a cat when you go overseas," Patil said. Notably, Patil did not treat Abhishek's century against Afghanistan as evidence the problem had been solved.

He said he was not surprised by the innings at all, explaining that both players already possess the natural game to attack from the very first ball, a skill that was never in question. His concern lies specifically with how that same fearless approach holds up once seam and swing come into play on unfamiliar surfaces, a test that home conditions in Delhi against Afghanistan's attack simply did not pose.

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Why Patil's warning is fair despite the timing looking harsh

Raising this concern in the immediate afterglow of a big century could easily read as needlessly critical of Sharma, but the underlying data support exactly what Patil is describing.

Abhishek's collapse in form across Ireland, England, and Zimbabwe, in conditions far less friendly to power-hitting, is not a small-sample-size issue but a genuine pattern worth naming.

Sooryavanshi's case is even more instructive, given his fast-tracked rise, which means he has had insufficient international cricket to develop answers for genuine seam movement, something franchise cricket rarely tests to the same degree.

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