Dada backed the idea that explosive Abhishek Sharma should have his ODI debut as early as possible.
“Unbelievable left-hand batting by the young lad Abhishek Sharma in the T20I series against England, and there is no reason why he should not play one-day cricket. A player like Abhishek Sharma would be a part of any cricket team in the world,” PTI quoted him.
Currently, Abhishek Sharma, after his scintillating 135 runs in the fifth and final T20 against England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, is second in the latest ICC men’s T20I rankings.
The very talented 24-year-old’s huge knock earned him a meteoric rise of over 38 ranks, putting him in second place among all batters in the T20I format.
He thus became the all-time top individual run-scorer for India in the shortest format, coming into that match as the star amidst India’s 150-run bashing of England at the Wankhede, inning-wise.
Read Also:- Abhishek Sharma rises to number 2 in the latest ICC T20I rankings
At the Wankhede Stadium, Abhishek shone brightly, smashing a brilliant 135 off just 54 balls, which is the highest individual score for a male Indian batter in T20I. His destruction came with seven fours and thirteen sixes at a strike rate of 228.57 to India, who posted 247/9.
He also took a catch and picked two wickets with his left-arm spin and helped India bowl out England for just 97 to clinch a 4-1 series win.
Abhishek Sharma, after that match, had said that the belief of playing for the national team from Yuvraj Singh, former great of the white-ball game, kept him going.
“In a player’s career, there are moments when you are embedded with forums of self-doubt about whether you are going to play for the country or not. Paji has always had faith in me. He used to say that one fine day I will be representing India and have the honour of winning matches for that.” That belief kept me going, said Abhishek to Disney+Hotstar.
“I have always visualized such innings, and it finally happened. The support from the coach and the captain gave me a lot of confidence. They have always encouraged me to play my natural game; it helped me a lot, even if I have failed in a few games in the past. To have the faith of your captain and your coach, one feels that that is one of the greatest motivations when you are a young guy,” he added.
