Swashbuckling opener Abhishek Sharma is expected to play a key role in India’s T20 World Cup defence early next year. Since his debut in July 2024, the southpaw has established himself as one of the most explosive batters in world cricket.
With less than two months remaining for the T20 World Cup, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav shares insights on Abhishek’s work ethic off the field, calling it a key factor behind his success.
"I feel his strongest quality is a lot of hard work, which is involved in what he does the day before the game, two days, three days before the game. All these things are not seen,” Suryakumar said, as quoted by ICC.
“No one sees when a player is on the field, in the hotel, in the gym. Spending some time in the pool. These are the qualities, I mean everyone does that, all the players do, but I’ve seen him follow that relentlessly now and he’s doing that really well. And he’s sticking to the process.”
Abhishek Sharma has played 33 T20Is so far, scoring 1115 runs at an incredible strike rate of 188.02, including two hundreds and six fifties. Despite being aggressive in his approach, the left-hander has managed to maintain an impressive average of 35.96 as well.
Under the regime of Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir, the Men in Blue have embraced a more aggressive approach in the shortest format, consistently outbatting their opponents.
The captain mentioned how Abhishek’s quick starts at the top of the order have played a key role in setting the tone.
“He's tasted that success, he knows what is required if he has to be the same going forward till whenever he plays this format." Surya stated.
“He has understood at a young age. It’s good. They’ve made my job easy. I wanted everyone to play this brand of cricket. He starts at the top and he’s guiding everyone.”
Abhishek, the current No. 1-ranked T20I batter, now prepares to feature in his maiden World Cup for India as the defending champions begin their campaign on February 7 against USA in Mumbai.
India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.
