Not Yuvraj Singh! Abhishek Sharma's father reveals his son is trying to follow the footsteps of this Indian legend
The father of India's latest batting sensation Abhishek Sharma, Raj Kumar Sharma, has revealed that his son is trying to follow the footsteps of Rohit Sharma. Rohit Sharma recently led India to the T20 World Cup 2024 title.
His batting style has been well-appreciated by fans and experts around the world. From the ODI World Cup 2023, Rohit has tried to bat with more intent rather than taking his time. His aggressive style of batting has given India flying starts due to which India have posted massive scores on the board.
In the recently concluded T20 World Cup, Rohit finished as the second-highest run-scorer of the tournament with 257 runs from 8 matches at an average of 36.71. He batted with a strike rate of 156.70, which is excellent given the pitches in the USA and the Caribbean were bowler-friendly.
Abhishek Sharma's father reveals his son is trying to follow the footsteps of Rohit Sharma
While speaking to The Indian Express, Raj Kumar Sharma revealed that his son Abhishek is trying to follow Rohit Sharma in terms of his aggressive style of batting. Raj Kumar also added that Abhishek is trying to bat according to the current demands of T20 cricket.
"The demand of T20 cricket now is to attack from ball one. You have to be brave. Rohit Sharma has shown the way for all the Indian youngsters. The template is set and I am glad that Abhishek is trying to follow in the footsteps of Rohit," Raj Kumar Sharma said.
Raj Kumar backed his son to bat in this style as he has shown consistency while being aggressive in the past.
"I hope he continues to play in this style and I don’t believe that this approach is a double-edged sword. He has shown consistency," he added.
Raj Kumar Sharma advises Abhishek Sharma to stick to his batting style
Raj Kumar Sharma also revealed that Abhishek was disappointed with the way he got out after the first T20I and even blamed his batting style for his dismissal.
"He was a bit dejected. You can’t blame him. When you get out on nought on your debut, you do question your approach. He was blaming himself for his six-hitting obsession. I reminded him that his six-hitting ability has helped him reach here. Why change your style now? Stick to your strength," Raj Kumar advised his son to stick to his aggressive batting style.
Staying true to his father's words, Abhishek stuck to his natural batting style and went on to score a brilliant century in just his second T20I. The young left-hander scored 100 off 47 balls, which included 7 fours and 8 sixes.
Abhishek Sharma had a brilliant IPL 2024 season where he scored 484 runs in 16 matches at an average of 32.27 and a exceptional strike rate of 204.22. His aggressive batting style was well appreciated within the cricketing circles, which paved the way for his selection in India's squad for the tour of Zimbabwe.
