Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill’s sublime opening partnership against Pakistan in the Asia Cup Super Fours match on Sunday pretty much ended the game as a contest and the former won player of the match for his efforts. It is simply the latest in a series of incredible knocks from Abhishek who became India’s first-choice opener over the course of the last one year, dislodging Yashasvi Jaiswal from that status.
Abhishek smashed 74 runs in 39 balls, which took his tally for the tournament to 173 in four matches at a strike rate of 208.43. India spin great Ravichandran Ashwin has since predicted that Abhishek would go on to do this for many a year to come. “I want to tell you that this is not the arrival of Abhishek Sharma, this is just the beginning. He has just started, and he has a long future ahead. He is going to blow the cricketing world apart,” Ashwin said on his Youtube channel. He tipped the left-hander to carry forward his mentor Yuvraj Singh’s legacy.
“Take that in writing. He has so much ability, just like how Yuvraj Singh became India’s marquee white-ball cricketer. The best white-ball batter in limited-overs cricket for India. He can reach that level easily. I think he is going to carry Yuvraj’s legacy forward. He is a phenomenal talent.”
Abhishek has played 21 T20Is for India in which he has scored 708 runs at a scarcely believable strike rate of 197.21 and average of 35.40. He has scored two centuries and three half-centuries. In February this year, Abhishek broke the record for the highest score by an Indian in T20Is, smashing 135 in 54 balls against England at the Wankhede Stadium and powering India to a 150-run win.
On Sunday, Abhishek put up a 105-run stand with Gill as India chased down a target of 172 with six wickets and seven balls to spare. In the eighth over, Abhishek shuffled across, opened up his front leg, and whipped Saim Ayub through extra cover for a glorious boundary, reminiscent to MS Dhoni’s trademark helicopter shot.
“Abhishek Sharma hit an inside-out MS Dhoni-style helicopter cover drive. Everybody will talk about the five sixes that he hit, but I want to talk about this cover drive, because there was finesse in this shot. Despite only having one bat swing, he can adjust his downswing. If a batter can make the game look that simple, then why would you not want to watch him day in and day out?” Ashwin said.
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