After Abhishek Sharma’s stunning knock in the T20I series opener against England, former cricketer Aakash Chopra has made a statement saying the batter could be Rohit Sharma‘s new-age counterpart.
Abhishek’s performance has washed out his critics, who had questioned his place in the team following a poor run in recent matches.
In a recent YouTube video, Chopra referenced the chants Rohit Sharma associated with during his T20 days. “We believe in karma, we believe in Sharma,” which was chant associated with the Indian skipper during his peak performance.
Chopra draws paralled similarities in the support and belief show towards the two players.
“Abhishek Sharma – we believe in karma, we believe in Sharma. We used to say that for Rohit. It’s too early to say the same thing for Abhishek but he has done the Abhishek (made an auspicious start). I thought it was an important innings,” Chopra said.
“Abhishek Sharma was under pressure because he had been playing but hadn’t scored too many runs.
This team’s template is to hit fours and sixes and maximize the powerplay, but if you get out three times, they only drop you. They could have looked at Yashasvi. He could have played this series and nobody would have raised an eyebrow or batted an eyelid,” he added.
After Rohit Sharma announced his T20I retirement following India’s T20 World Cup 2024. the team has been in transition period under the new captain Suryakumar Yadav. On this occasion, SKY has backed his opening pair Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson even Amidst criticism over Abhishek’s inconsistent performance.
During the first T20I of the England’s tour of India 2025, India chased the target of 133 despite the early dismissals of Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav for 26 and 0. But Abhishek Sharma strengthened his grip with a knock off 79 runs off 34 balls.
His knock included eight sixes and five boundaries, helped the side to recover from dismissals and secured a 1-0 lead in the five match T20I series.
Abhishek’s position in the team has been under threat due to inconistent performances. He managed to scored only 256 runs in 13 T20Is, with one fifty.
With Jaiswal and Shubman Gill started to receive calls for T20Is has put more pressure for the young opener, his commanding innings against England not only silenced his critics but also reignited hopes of him becoming a dependable asset for the team.
The second match of the T20I series will be played on January 25 at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
