Indian T20I opener Abhishek Sharma has dazzled the international cricket scene ever since his debut. The power-hitter is a batting mainstay for India in T20Is and has surged ahead of his childhood friend and current India ODI and Test captain, Shubman Gill. While Gill was dropped just before the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, Abhishek has solidified his position as a long-term opening prospect for India, at least in the shortest format.
Much of Abhishek’s growth and success in international cricket is attributed to former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh. The star all-rounder recently opened up about mentoring both Abhishek and Shubman, calling the latter smarter, more hardworking, and with greater ethics, but noted that Abhishek was given time to reach his current level.
“When I worked with Abhishek and Shubman… Shubman was already playing for India; he was much smarter, more hardworking, with greater work ethics. Abhishek is someone we had to bring there,” said Yuvraj on the YouTube show Serving It Up with Sania, hosted by former Indian tennis player Sania Mirza.
“I think we had something like a four-year plan: ‘If you do these things in four years, then with your talent, you could play for India.’ I told him, ‘I’m not here to motivate you to play in the … I mean, the IPL is great, Ranji Trophy is great… but I am here for you to play for the country.’ And I think for four years he did exactly what I told him, and in exactly four years and three months, he played for India,” he added.
Yuvraj said he feels proud whenever Abhishek and Shubman do well but credited their success to their fathers. “Definitely, for both Abhishek and Shubman, every time they perform, I feel proud. The major success of their stories has been their fathers. I have just been someone who could guide them to a place where I know what the challenges are. Any guy I work with, whether it’s Abhishek or Shubman or the next ones I’m working with, every time they perform at the domestic level or any level, I feel proud.”
Yuvraj also spoke about how he struggled to find a mentor figure early in his international career, which eventually motivated him to help young talents today.
“I didn’t have a mentor, someone who had tasted international cricket, to understand what it takes to play at that level. I had good seniors around me, but by the time my relationship with Sachin (Tendulkar) improved, it took almost four or five years to get to know him, understand what he was trying to explain about the game, and learn from him.”
“So, what I took from that is that when younger guys come from, say, Ranji Trophy to the international level, they can get stuck in between. I thought I could really contribute mentally to help make that transition,” said Yuvraj.
