'Isne Hindustan ki game change kar di hai': Why India’s T20 World Cup title defence needs Abhishek Sharma as much as Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya

NEW DELHI: After India’s win against New Zealand in the second T20I in Raipur, captain Suryakumar Yadav said: “Sirf Abhishek run banayega toh hi India jeetega, aisa nahi hai (India will not win only if Abhishek Sharma scores runs).”

Suryakumar was having this conversation with Ishan Kishan, the hero of the second T20I, and was trying to assert that India can win even if they lose Abhishek early, which happened in Raipur when the hosts were reeling at 6 for 2 while chasing 209. India did chase down the target with 28 balls to spare, courtesy Ishan Kishan’s 32-ball 76 and the captain’s unbeaten 82 off 37 balls.



But captain Suryakumar Yadav is wrong in his assessment.

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Abhishek Sharma, since making his international debut in Harare in July 2024, where he registered a four-ball duck, has become a different beast. In his 36 outings for India in T20Is, the Amritsar marauder is scoring at a strike rate of 195.22, with two centuries and eight fifties. It is his aggressive style of batting that puts fear in the opposition camp.

During the Asia Cup last year, the talk in Pakistan’s dressing room before the final was that if they snapped Abhishek’s wicket early, the match would be theirs. The way Abhishek took down Pakistan’s premium fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf in the league stage was a spectacle. He put fear into Pakistan’s dressing room. Pakistan did get him early in the final and thought they had won the match, but it was Tilak Varma who stepped in.

This is also what Abhishek does. With teams preparing mostly for him, they tend to forget the other batters, and the beneficiaries have been India’s middle order, be it Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan or captain Suryakumar Yadav himself.

Take Sunday as an example. Abhishek set the tone by dancing down the track to the first ball he faced and clobbering an 88-metre six off Jacob Duffy’s bowling. The thing about Abhishek is that he comes out all guns blazing. He is playing a game of high risk and high reward, and he has found remarkable consistency.

“I’ve said it before as well, that’s what my team wants from me, and I just want to execute all the time,” Abhishek said of his 20-ball 68 in Guwahati.

“But obviously it’s not easy to do it every time, but I think it’s all about the mental side as well and the atmosphere you get around your dressing room.”

Abhishek Sharma slammed India’s second-fastest half-century in T20Is by hammering a 14-ball fifty against New Zealand in the third T20I. He fell only behind his mentor Yuvraj Singh in that list. Yuvraj had achieved the feat in 12 balls against England during the 2007 T20 World Cup. The fastest in international cricket remains Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee, who smashed a nine-ball fifty against Mongolia at the Asian Games 2023.

His mentor Yuvraj Singh teased him on X: “Still can’t get a 50 off 12 balls, can you? Well played – keep going strong!”

Abhishek understands how difficult it is to go past Yuvraj’s record, but he is not giving up and said the chase is on.

“I mean, that’s more than impossible for anyone. But still, you never know. Any batsman could do it because I think all the batters are batting really well in the series as well, and going forward it’s going to be fun.”

Back in Amritsar, his father is gobsmacked by his son’s purple patch, but says his ward has worked tirelessly and is now reaping the rewards.

“Main khud hairaan hoon (I am shocked as well),” Raj Kumar Sharma told TimesofIndia.com.

The father, an old-school cricket coach, is in disbelief but equally proud of his son’s accomplishments.

“Yeh alag hi cricket khel raha hai. Isne Hindustan ki game change kar di hai (He is playing at a different level. He has changed India’s style of play),” Sharma said.

Numbers in cricket can sometimes be overrated, but in Abhishek’s case, they underline the southpaw’s dominance:
��This was the third time he reached fifty inside the powerplay. He is only the second batter in men’s T20Is with three powerplay fifties.
��This was Abhishek’s third fifty in 20 balls or fewer. He is already level with Yuvraj Singh, David Warner, Colin Munro and Phil Salt.
��The most fascinating stat is that Abhishek did not play a single dot ball during his 20-ball 68 not out. It is the highest individual score without a dot ball in men’s T20Is.

These are just a few numbers, and Abhishek’s father, also his childhood coach, decodes how his son has cracked the code.

“He has trained himself for this. In the off-season, he used to travel across North India to play on different grounds with different dimensions. He played corporate matches in Punjab and Delhi on half-cooked pitches where boundary dimensions vary. He has prepared himself for it,” he said.

“He has been lucky to work with the world’s best, be it Yuvraj, Brian Lara, Pat Cummins or Travis Head. All the knowledge he has gained has only enhanced his skills.

“Overall, it is also the duaas (prayers) from the fans that have helped him continue with this high-risk, high-reward approach,” he added.

With the ODI World Cup to follow in a year’s time, there are already talks that the southpaw should be included in the 50-over set-up as well. Although it is a different format, it could be a wild ride if he gets going in ODIs too.

“Yeh jis format mein jaayega, wahan aisa hi karega (He will play the same way in whichever format he plays),” says his father.

Only time will tell whether the selectors take a punt on Abhishek in ODIs or not, but in T20Is, he is India’s main weapon.


If Jasprit Bumrah’s toe-crushing yorkers and Hardik Pandya’s all-round brilliance give India an edge, it is the fear Abhishek propels in opposition camps that helps India win half the battle even before the match begins.

Captain Suryakumar Yadav might not agree, but for India to defend their title, a lot will ride on Abhishek’s fury in the powerplay.


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