Former West Indies legend Brian Lara has revealed about this Abhishek Sharma‘s hunger and desire to play Test cricket for India. Having played 24 T20Is so far, Abhishek is yet to make his debut in ODIs and Tests, but he is the top-ranked batsman in the shortest format of the game, having registered a couple of centuries.
Lara praised Abhishek, calling him a ‘great young player’. He also described how his various batting attributes were similar to those of his mentor and veteran Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. The legendary cricketer couldn’t praise Abhishek’s talent enough and admitted that he had ‘become very fond of him (Abhishek)’. The former Caribbean cricketer complimented the top-order left-handed batsman for improving his batting by leaps and bounds over time.
“I know Abhishek from my time at SRH. I was there during the Covid years (batting coach and strategic advisor in 2022 and head coach in 2023). He is a great young player and I think he is something very special. Yuvraj Singh has had a big influence on him: his batting speed, the way he hits the ball, the way he plays through the line. You can do it Seeing Yuvraj effect in him,” said Lara, as quoted by India today.
“He calls me every now and then and what stands out is that despite his success in the T20s, he still wants to find a way into the Test team, which is great. It’s very special that someone like that is thinking so big. I don’t necessarily have a soft spot, but I’m very fond of him. It’s great to see how much he has improved and how far he has come. He has taken his game to another level,” he added.
Abhishek has played 24 first-class matches, amassing a total of 1071 runs, with an average of almost 30. He is coming off a successful Asia Cup 2025 campaign for India. With 314 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 200, Abhishek received the Player of the Tournament award. The Amritsar native recently featured in a number of matches for India A at home against the visiting Australian team. Next in his international assignments, he has been selected in the T20I line-up for the white-ball series against Australia.
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