New Delhi: Former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has praised in-form left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma’s clarity in game plan and decision-making ahead of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, adding that it was a matter of time for him to enter the senior set-up and develop into a quality player.
Abhishek enters the upcoming mega event as the top-ranked T20I batter, having amassed 1,297 runs in 37 T20Is, including ten fifty-plus scores since his debut in July 2024 – the most for a batter in this time-frame ahead of the World Cup. He also leads the six-hitting charts with 88 maximums in that period, the most amongst top ten teams, while his strike rate of 195 is the best among batters with 1,000-plus runs.
Abhishek’s power-hitting is unmatched – as per Cricket-21, he strikes a six in every eight balls in T20Is. He has also hit 55 maximums in the first six overs – the second-most for an India men’s batter. Remarkably, he has cleared the ropes 36 times within his first 10 deliveries, which translates to averaging a six in every nine balls.
Mhambrey has kept tabs on the progress of Abhishek when the latter was a member of the 2018 Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup winning team in New Zealand. His dazzling progress in T20Is may have come as a surprise to many, but not to Mhambrey and former head coach Rahul Dravid.
“I just look back and think about Abhishek during the under-19 days. You always felt that he had time. He had time and he was still a young kid. I thought he was still the youngest of the lot. He was 17 or so, maybe. But with that said, you knew that within a span of the next 3-4 years, obviously, he will develop as a player, physically as well, because you knew the technique was there. You still knew the timing was there.
“The strength was kind of… because he was still young and you knew that given an opportunity, given a look into the next 4-5 years, he has the skill set to develop into a quality player. I am sure no one is surprised from the lot that has been with him, including Rahul (Dravid). I am sure if you have a chat with Rahul, he would say the same thing – that we are not surprised that he is delivering at this stage,” said Mhambrey in an exclusive conversation with IANS on Friday.
Nothing illustrates Abhishek’s dominance more than his ability to score quickly from the outset. He often charges down the wicket against pace from the very first ball, looking to create width and impose himself.
Nearly half of his boundaries against pace in the powerplay since his debut have come through the point and cover regions, reflecting a stand-and-deliver style that has become his hallmark. Against spinners, Abhishek accelerates further, striking one maximum in every six balls.
“What stands out for me is just the free flow of his bat and just the timing bit. Again, the spinners and seamers and kind of… I feel if you just analyse his game a little bit, it looks like there is clarity in his game plan. It’s not clouded anywhere – the decision-making is not clouded.
“It’s very clear that this is the way he wants to play and very clear in terms of… and that shows in maybe your footwork. Maybe you are using the angles, using the crease, and he is so smartly doing it. I think those couple of things really stand out,” added Mhambrey, who won the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup as India’s bowling coach.
With wicketkeeper-batters Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson both vying to be Abhishek’s opening partner, India face a selection challenge and Mhambrey described it as a happy headache to have. Kishan has been in great form and hit a whirlwind 103 against New Zealand in Thiruvananthapuram, and smashed a quick-fire 53 in the warm-up game win over South Africa in Navi Mumbai.
He is the frontrunner to don the gloves and open the batting ahead of Samson, who had a horrid series against New Zealand with just 46 runs in five innings. “Well, it’s always good to have options and the kind of option that you feel comes in and delivers as well. So it’s always going to be a dilemma in the team – do we stick with Sanju or Ishan, who is getting runs right now, and just pursue that?
“It’s always going to be the decision that thankfully is not mine or not ours anymore. I will leave it to the current staff for that. But I think what is also very healthy to see is that you have someone who comes in like Ishan, coming in and complimenting Abhishek. It’s not about one guy playing a role or the second guy doing it.
“Out there on the field, both guys are playing in a similar template in terms of the batting – equally destructive from both ends. So that becomes a challenge for the fielding side, right? That’s something which is so nice because it’s just the way we’ve seen them using the powerplay. The first 6 overs, just the way we are using it – it’s no longer about 8 and 9 or 10. It’s always been 10 plus or 12 and 13.
“If you have both the batters going the way that they are, as a bowler, you’ve always been asked the question of how do I cope up with this? What strategy do I come up with? Because there’s no reprieve anyway, right?
“There’s no way that I can say I can bowl a couple of balls to one batter and get away with it – because I’m not going to get away with it. Just the way it looks like, it’s healthy and great for the Indian dressing room. But definitely not from the opposite side, so I’ll be wary. I’ll be a little tense in saying that I know what we are against now,” concluded Mhambrey.
(IANS)
