Abhishek Sharma finally found his feet in the ongoing T20 World Cup with a typically aggressive half-century in India’s Super Eights match against Zimbabwe at the Chepauk Stadium on Thursday. Abhishek smashed 55 in 30 balls as India notched up a mammoth 256/4 batting first. The hosts , thus taking a huge leap forward in their mission to reach the semifinals of the tournament.
Among those that lauded Abhishek on social media was Yuvraj Singh, the India great who has also been a mentor to him and , among other young batters from Punjab. “The best chatter is when you let the bat do all the talking! Good Innings sir Abhishek, keep pushing,” Yuvraj wrote on his Insta story.
Abhishek came into the tournament on the back of some utterly astonishing form in T20Is. However, he started off with three consecutive ducks, while also missing a match due to a severe stomach infection, thus going the entire group stage without scoring a single run. Despite this, his career strike rate continues to hover around a whopping 190.92 in 42 innings.
Yuvraj had about mentoring both Abhishek and Gill, the India Test captain whose ommission from the squad for the ongoing T20 World Cup made waves in December. Yuvraj said Gill was 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 that while he feels proud whenever Abhishek and Shubman do well, credit for their success should go 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.”
