India opener Abhishek Sharma credited former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh’s guidance and coaching for realizing his dream of playing for India. Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill both trained under Yuvraj Singh for a few months, and that has led to their meteoric rise in Indian cricket.

Shubman Gill made his India debut in 2020 and is now part of the Indian team in all three formats, captaining the side in Tests and being the vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is. On the other hand, Abhishek Sharma made his T20I debut in 2024 and has cemented his place in the side with an astonishing performance against England and the recent Asia Cup 2025.

Abhishek spoke on the first episode of the new season of Breakfast with Champions, telling Gaurav Kapur how Yuvraj's remarks helped him shift his perspective. The southpaw admitted that his performances were subpar at the time, and he was watching Shubman Gill and others succeed.

"At that time, I was, to be very honest, struggling a bit. I wasn’t consistent even in the IPL, and I wasn’t even in the team’s playing eleven. Shubman was already playing for India. I used to tell myself that, yeah, I’m a little delayed, I’ve fallen behind—all those ahead of me in the group, I mean, the captain was already there, and I was a performer too, so I was a little late,” Abhishek said on the Breakfast with Champions show.

Abhishek stated that he was having lunch with Yuvraj and Gill, and the Indian icon reminded him that he was preparing him for the Indian squad. The opening stated that Yuvraj informed him that he would be a member of the Indian team within the next two to three years.

"Then, when Paaji called me home, Shubman and I were sitting with Paji, having lunch. Paaji directly told me, “I am not preparing you for the state team, I am not preparing you for the IPL, and I am not preparing you just to handle things. I am preparing you to play for India. You have to win matches for India. Write this down and keep it.” And he said, “Next, next two, three years max,” he added.

Abhishek said that the meeting changed his mindset, and he felt that he had to prepare for something bigger and perform for India.

"I mean, this was from the person I had idolized. If he’s saying this, it means he has so much belief and trust in me. I thought to myself, "Yeah, this is something." After the camp, I felt that my goal was something else. I am being prepared for something bigger—to perform and lead innings for India. And that’s exactly what I will do, and I will achieve it," said Abhishek.

Against England, Abhishek Sharma had hit the highest individual score for India in T20Is, scoring 135 runs. Recently in the Asia Cup, Abhishek hammered 314 runs in 7 games with a strike rate of 200 and got the Player of the Tournament award as India won the Asia Cup.