Abhishek Sharma for India in the T20I format has been quite brutal upfront with the bat. The left-hander has slammed the bowlers in the powerplay and more often than not made the contests one-sided within the first few overs. Former Indian off-spinner said he would like to see Abhishek in the ODI format as well in the future. “It’s not just the arrival of Abhishek Sharma, but the arrival of India’s next generation X-factor player. If there is one player who has been the best for India in 2025, it has to be him. He has batted really well. He has reimagined India’s powerplay batting and has been exceptional. I would love to see him in the ODI format as well. I think he will probably be the Men’s team player of the year,” he said on Ash ki Baat’. “I truly believe, man, that the next batting superstar of India is Abhishek Sharma. See, he doesn’t have a problem exactly, not a problem, but a challenge.“Problem” is a very big word. His challenge is to be able to control that downswing. I was reading somewhere that he still talks to Brian Lara because Lara had a huge backlift. His bat swing was magnificent too, so Abhishek spoke to Lara about controlling that bat swing to be able to play Test cricket,” Ashwin said in one of his earlier videos. Ashwin also described how the Punjab opener is constantly evolving with the bat. All said and done, that bat swing, he actually stepped out today, charged down the track, and Australia bowled really well too. They were bowling tight lines, fuller lengths, taking the pace off. But that full ball, especially when you charge at a fast bowler and they try to bowl a yorker, you don’t have width to free your arms. Yet, he was still able to open up his arms and hit it over covers for a boundary.”
‘I would love to see him in the ODI format as well’: R Ashwin on Abhishek Sharma
