Abhishek Sharma has established himself as India’s leading T20I opener over the last 15 months. The young opener has played 27 T20Is so far, scoring 961 runs at an incredible strike rate of 192.20, including two hundreds and six fifties. Despite being aggressive in his approach, the southpaw has managed to maintain an impressive average of 36.96 as well.

Abhishek was the stand-out performer for India during their recent Asia Cup 2025 triumph in the United Arab Emirates. He took the opposition attack to cleaners right through the continental event, amassing 314 runs from seven matches at a strike rate of 200 and an average of 44.85.

After his success in the continental event, the 25-year-old acknowledged the role of his mentor Yuvraj Singh in his success. Notably, Abhishek had trained under Yuvraj during the COVID-19 lockdown and often seeks the World Cup winner’s guidance to improve his game.

In an exclusive chat with PTI, Yuvraj admitted that working with Abhishek has made him understand how to become a coach

“You have been looking at it for last 8-9 months but Abhishek has been working on his game for last four to five years. In terms of coaching, at the beginning it was more about sharing my experiences with him and Shubman (Gill) when I was on the verge of retirement,” Yuvraj said.

“I think working with Abhishek over the years has also kind of made me understand that what are the things that you need to do as a coach, or as a mentor. I have also learnt through that journey how to help a talent grow and whatever programmes that we did and whatever targets that we have, it is because he has worked so hard to reach and that’s why the performances are showing,” he added.

“The work ethic that Abhishek has shown and effort that he has put in is not just for the last 6-9 months, it is the work of last four to five years and now the results are showing,” he explained.

Yuvraj’s father Yograj Singh is known for being a strict disciplinarian but the dashing southpaw is quick to dismiss comparisons with him while talking about his coaching methods.

“I am definitely nothing like Yograj Singh. I am a very different person and a very different personality. My style of coaching is very different. I believe when you are coaching someone or mentoring someone, you need to be in their shoes and you need to understand their mindset, what they are going through rather than telling them what to do.

“It has to be like a push and pull. You take some and you give some. So it is important to understand how to be in the head of a 19-year-old,” Yuvraj said.

In his younger days, Yuvraj Singh was in and out of the Indian team and felt bogged down by the pressure of adjusting to the demands of top-flight cricket.

“When I was a 19-year-old, nobody understood the challenges that I was facing. So when I see a 19 or a 20-year-old, I know exactly what challenges they are facing mentally.

“It is about listening to them and understanding their mindset and working accordingly rather than telling them what to do.”

Abhishek, since his entry into the T20I set-up as an opener, has transformed how the Indian team approaches its batting in the shortest format. Yuvraj gave credit to coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav for Sharma’s success.

“I think the fearlessness also comes with support from coach and the captain and I think when the coach and captain allow you to go and play your game, fearlessly, it gives you an opportunity to express yourself and that’s where I come from as well,” he remarked.

Abhishek Sharma is currently plying his trade in the series against Australia, and has produced scores of 19, 68 and 25 in three T20Is so far.

(With PTI Inputs)