Watch: Shoaib Akhtar praises Indian youngster

Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar recently praised a young Indian cricketer who has recently become a star in the Indian jersey with his aggressive batting performances in the T20I format. 

Shoaib Akhtar praised Abhishek Sharma

Shoaib Akhtar has praised Indian cricketer Abhishek Sharma, who has been in the news recently for his outstanding batting performances in the T20I format. The 24-year-old has already put a special mark among Indian cricket fans, and Akhtar is also impressed with him. On his social media accounts, Akhtar posted a video in which he praised Sharma in front of him and wished him the best of luck for his bright future. 

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Abhishek Sharma is in dream form

The 24-year-old Abhishek Sharma is a left-handed batter and left-arm spinner. After his international cricket debut in July 2024 during the Zimbabwe tour, Sharma has played 17 T20Is, where the left-handed batter scored 535 runs with an average of 33.43 and a strike rate of 193.84, including two centuries and two half-centuries. Also, as a left-arm spinner, he picked up six wickets in his T20I career. 

After scoring a duck on his T20I debut, Sharma scored a 47-ball 100 in his second T20I. During the Centurion T20I last November, Sharma scored 25-ball 50 runs. He has now become a dependable opener for the Indian T20I side. 

Before the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Sharma finished as the leading run-scorer in the five-match home T20I series against England, which India won by 4-1. Sharma scored 279 runs in that series. After scoring a stormy 79 off 34 balls in the T20I series opener at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Sharma recorded the highest T20I score by an Indian with 135 runs from 54 balls in the last game of the T20I series at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. 

Sharma is in blistering form with the bat at present. Recently, in domestic cricket, he recorded the joint second-fastest T20 century and Punjab's highest-ever List A score (170).