Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik lavished praise on star opener Abhishek Sharma for "consistently churning out runs" across varying conditions and against different bowling attacks, noting that he has "blossomed into a world superpower opener."

In the third T20I against the West Indies on Sunday at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, Abhishek hammered 69 off 30 balls, setting the stage for India to post 223. Along the way, he also reached 2000 T20I runs, becoming the fastest batter to achieve the milestone in terms of balls faced.

Having been trained by the renowned Yuvraj Singh, runs have come for Abhishek all around the world against various opponents. Talking about the emergence of Abhishek, Karthik has complimented the consistency of the batter and has appreciated him for becoming a "world superpower opener."

"He's guided by someone who's shown for a long, long time how efficient you can be, even though he's someone who is so good at striking a cricket ball. Abhishek Sharma is learning from the best, and you can see how he's able to pace in innings," Karthik said on Cricbuzz, referring to Abhishek learning from Yuvraj.

"He knows the powerplay is an area where you need to try and hit as many boundaries as possible. And he's found a method in which he's able to be successful. And across pitches, across destinations in the world, he's able to go out there and constantly put the bowlers under pressure.

Now, when you see somebody like Abhishek Sharma walking in as a team, you fear it; you know, that's the wicket we need early. Because if you don't get that early, it's going for runs. So, I've enjoyed how he's blossomed into this world superpower as an opener," Karthik added.

He mentioned that the batter’s ability to score runs in front of strong opposition and in important games has led him to become one of the best players in T20Is.

"But what is even more rewarding for someone like Abhishek Sharma is the fact that he's able to churn those runs against big opposition, big games, and also bring consistency to it, which is probably the toughest aspect up until now for good T20 cricketers: how do you bring that attacking instinct out there every day, but also be willing to take risks and almost score every two or three games. And he's doing it. That's why he's rated as one of the best players in the world," he said.

Karthik further pointed out that Abhishek had bided his time against off-spinner Roston Chase earlier in the innings before unleashing his full power.

"He is quite the destructive batter. But what he's also added is a little bit of nous. If you see the way he played Roston Chase, the name that you just said, in the first couple of balls, he just knocked it and just tried to say, "Okay, what's the pitch doing?" And then he went bang bang.

So, he's got the skills; he's got the shots. And now he's become a consistent churner of runs at that strike rate, which is what makes him so special. If he's in the top five rankings of T20 batting for some time now, it's purely because of how much he's willing to take risks but also be consistent doing that, which is what sets him apart from some of the other players in the world," Karthik said.

India will play the West Indies in the fourth T20I on October 14 in Hyderabad.

(IANS inputs)