"It reminds you slightly of Yuvraj Singh" - Aakash Chopra lauds Abhishek Sharma's destructive knock in SRH's IPL 2024 win vs LSG

Aakash Chopra has noted that Abhishek Sharma's batting style reminds him slightly of Yuvraj Singh. The SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) opener scored a destructive half-century in his side's IPL 2024 clash against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

LSG set SRH a 166-run target after opting to bat first in Hyderabad on Wednesday, May 8. Abhishek then smoked an unbeaten 75 off 28 balls and added 167 runs for the opening wicket with Travis Head as the hosts chased the target down with all 10 wickets and 62 deliveries to spare to climb into third position on the points table.

Reflecting on the SunRisers Hyderabad's chase in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra claimed that Abhishek strikes the ball more cleanly than Head. He compared the Indian youngster's bat swing to his mentor Yuvraj.

"Abhishek Sharma is a very good story. If I compare their (Abhishek and Head's) hitting styles, Abhishek's style seems cleaner to me. The backlift comes nicely, it reminds you slightly of Yuvraj Singh, and the downswing is very good. You see class in his batting," he said (7:20).

The former India opener noted that Abhishek's strike rate was not far behind Head's despite playing authentic cricketing shots.

"It seems like Head is taking people's class, as though he is just beating them up, and it seems just like an extension of cricketing shots in his (Abhishek's) case. He also hits sixes. He hit six sixes and eight fours, and scored 75 runs off 28 balls. If Travis Head had a strike rate of 296, he also had a strike rate close to 270," Chopra observed.

Head smashed eight sixes and as many fours in his unbeaten 30-ball 89. Abhishek hit only two maximums fewer in his unbeaten 75-run knock.

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"Abhishek Sharma should be in the Indian team not too long from now" - Aakash Chopra

Abhishek Sharma has smashed 401 runs at a strike rate of 205.64 in 12 innings in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra opined that Abhishek Sharma should soon be a part of the Indian team.

"I feel Abhishek Sharma should be in the Indian team not too long from now. His name should come in the Indian team. We cannot say that we don't have strikers. We have many. You can see Abhishek Sharma. After that, Yashasvi Jaiswal hits at the top," he said (8:00).

The reputed commentator noted that the Men in Blue have a plethora of big-hitting options available, although only a few of them have made the T20 World Cup squad.

"Suryakumar Yadav, Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Rahul Tewatia, Nitish Reddy, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Rishabh Pant, Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, Prabhsimran Singh - all of them hit. There are plenty and I might have forgotten many names," Chopra observed.

"The list is long now. When you have so many hitters, no one should turn back and say that we don't have players who can hit. If we choose to go in a different direction, it's not the fault of Indian cricketers. The future is in front of you about how India will be batting going forward. It's heartening to see the way they are batting," the former KKR player added.

Among the aforementioned players, only Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson are part of India's main T20 World Cup squad. While Rinku Singh is part of the reserves, the rest are yet to make their international debuts.