Abhishek Sharma has emerged as one of India’s most reliable openers in T20 cricket, as he is fearless during strokeplay and has an effortless ability to find gaps. The left-hander is a naturally attacking batter and currently holds a prominent spot in the ICC T20I batting rankings, underlining his meteoric rise in the shortest format.
What makes him stand out is his versatility and resilience against all types of bowling – he handles pace with fluency on the pull and cut shots, while confidently dispatching spinners over the infield when required. At the international level, Sharma has consistently impressed, often maintaining a strike rate above 180 and an average near 40 when anchoring the top of the order, and because of that, he will be such an important weapon during powerplay overs.
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Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan hailed Sharma’s meteoric rise in T20 cricket, citing the rare audacity-reliability combination he brings to the top of the lineup. Pathan mentioned that though Sharma has the ability to score at an exceptional pace, he can never evade the more difficult days and days against quality bowling attacks, as he is likely to be targeted aggressively from the very beginning by opposition teams.
“The flow with which he is batting, the strike rate with which he is batting like at 190-200, and averages close to 40, you won’t find any other batter who is this consistent while playing in this style. South Africa might look to bowl outside off stump, or they might even go for the short ball in the first or the second ball of the innings itself. We have to see how Abhishek Sharma counters this.” Irfan Pathan mentioned in his YouTube channel.
“If something is being tried against Abhishek Sharma, that is better, because it will be an opportunity for Abhishek Sharma to counter that and improve. If South Africa try nothing new against him, then also it is fine, let it continue, he is batting really well anyway.” Pathan added.
