"This boy is something special" - When a Pakistan legend hailed Abhishek Sharma

Young Team India opener Abhishek Sharma has made a mixed start to his T20I career. After 15 matches, he has 371 runs to his name at an average of 26.50 and a strike rate of 182.75. While he has lacked consistency in his short international career, the left-hander has shown glimpses of brilliance.

The 24-year-old hammered 100 off just 47 balls against Zimbabwe in Harare in July 2024. He also clubbed 79 off only 34 balls in the opening T20I of the ongoing series against England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Abhishek's fantastic knock featured five fours and as many as eight sixes.

The youngster was handed his international debut after an exceptional IPL 2024 season for the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) during which he clobbered 484 runs at a strike rate of 204.22. In a flashback video shared on Sportskeeda's YouTube channel, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram hailed him as a special talent. The former left-arm pacer said:

"This boy is something special. He's got a bright future ahead."

Sharing some words of advice for the youngster from Punjab, Akram added:

"But don't be relaxed. Don't be happy with yourself. Enjoy on the day and then move on because it's a long journey."

Abhishek made his IPL debut for Delhi Daredevils in the 2017 season before joining his current franchise SunRisers Hyderabad in 2018. In 63 IPL matches so far, he has scored 1,377 runs at an average of 25.50 and a strike rate of 155.24.

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"Sharma ji got the right mentors" - Akram on Abhishek's growth as a batter

Abhishek was guided by the legendary West Indian Brian Lara, who was the batting coach of the SRH franchise for IPL 2022 and head coach for IPL 2023. He has also been mentored by India's white-ball batting great Yuvraj Singh.

Akram reckoned that the SRH batter is lucky to have had two great mentors. He said:

"I believe Brian Lara has worked on him a lot [during his SRH stint] and then Yuvi has been working with him for a couple of years. He [Abhishek] has found good role models to mentor him - one of the greatest of all time Brian Lara and one of the greatest hitters of all-time Yuvraj Singh."

"He's on the right track, very impressive. It's very important to have mentors in life in any field. Sharma ji got the right mentors. Imagine how proud the two of them will be feeling. Their hard work is paying off. Earlier, Lara had said that he is mentally not there yet. The talent is very much there, but this year [2024] he has achieved that goal too," Akram went on to add.

While Abhishek began the T20I series against England on an impressive note, he has failed to convert starts in subsequent matches. The 24-year-old was dismissed for 12 in the second T20I in Chennai and 24 in the third T20I in Rajkot.