Abhishek Sharma Placed On Virat Kohli And Sachin Tendulkar's Pedestal

The former Indian opening batter, Virender Sehwag, reckoned that the current generation will follow Abhishek Sharma’s batting style in the future, just like they used to do with Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.

His comments came after the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s southpaw opener nailed 141 runs in the 242-run chase against the Punjab Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. He put up a 171-run opening stand with Travis Head to murder the chase from the beginning.

Abhishek Sharma records the third-fastest IPL century as an Indian

Abhishek Sharma showed his intent from the very first ball as he ran down the wicket to nail Marco Janse for four boundaries in the second over of the second innings. They celebrated their maiden 50-run opening stand this season in just 3.3 overs.

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The 24-year-old, who got a life on the no-ball, smacked Yash Thakur over deep mid-wicket for another six. In 16 balls, he celebrated the third fastest half-century by an SRH batter before clubbing the Protea left-arm pacer for two successive over boundaries in the tenth over of the innings.

Yuzvendra Chahal tried to fox the batter with a flighted delivery, but Abhishek Sharma kept on dispatching them into the stands. He smashed 141 runs in just 55 balls, thanks to a strike rate of 256.36, shouldering on 14 boundaries and 10 over boundaries.

Virender Sehwag compares Abhishek Sharma with Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar

The former Indian opening batter highlighted that despite the fans trying to compare Head and Abhishek, the latter was way ahead of the Australian batter in the game against the Punjab Kings.

“If you nail the shots like that, what can the opposition do? We are watching Shreyas Iyer’s face, and he looks empty with his plans. They chased it down in 18.3 overs. So, Abhishek Sharma has batted at the next level this evening.” Virender Sehwag expressed during a discussion on Cricbuzz.

“We always compare Travis Head and Abhishek. But the number of balls Head took to get to his fifty, Sharma was on a century in the same number of deliveries. It was a phenomenal batting around the park. Whatever shots he has played, all were superb to watch.” He explained.

The Delhi-born also felt that just like in the past, modern players used to follow Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and MS Dhoni, or in the present, the focus is towards Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the current generation will follow Abhishek in the future.

“Now, Abhishek Sharma has made his style of batting. The young generation will follow him. In the past, they used to follow Sunil Gavaskar before Sachin Tendulkar came onto the scene. Later, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and MS Dhoni came, followed by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Now the next generation will follow Abhishek and Priyansh Arya, the two left-handed batter.” Sehwag shed light.

“Felt like someone has played the highlights”- Manoj Tiwary

India’s former middle-order batter, Manoj Tiwary, kept the 24-year-old at the same stage as Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers. He joked by saying that Abhishek’s batting gave him the highlight vibe.

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“It was an excellent batting performance. This will go into the record book of the IPL where Abhishek Sharma will find himself among the greats, including Virender Sehwag, AB de Villiers, or Chris Gayle.” The former Bengal captain addressed.

“Nobody thought that it would be that comfortable in chasing the score. Abhishek smacked it in all four corners of the park. Fortune saved him a bit, but then the way he kept on smashing the ball, it felt like someone had played the highlights.” Tiwary concluded.

'Tendulkar और Kohli की तरह, नई पीढ़ी करेगी Abhishek को idolise'@VirenderSehwag और @TiwaryManoj ने दी प्रतिक्रिया, Cricbuzz Live हिन्दी पर#IPL2025 #SRHvsPBKS pic.twitter.com/3naC08JAvm

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) April 12, 2025