Prior to the announcement of India’s squad for the Asia Cup 2025, all the buzz and questions surrounded Sanju Samson’s opening spot. Will he continue or will he lose the spot to the likes of Shubman Gill or Yashasvi Jaiswal? After making Gill the vice-captain in T20Is again, Samson might be demoted. However, no one put any fingers at Abhishek Sharma, who seems to be the present and future of India’s new-age T20 batting.
Abhishek Sharma’s high ceiling
After all, the kind of confidence and aggressiveness Abhishek has shown is truly remarkable. Being the number one ranked T20I batter is no mean feat and you need unreal potential and talent to keep out players like Samson and Jaiswal, that too, in the shortest format. There’s no doubt in Abhishek’s caliber, with him topping all the T20 charts every time he gets in his groove. It was only a few months ago when he took England bowlers to cleaners, hammering a 37-ball century, only second to Rohit Sharma’s 35 in terms of the fastest hundred in T20Is for the country.
Following that, we even saw a whirlwind of 141 (off 55 balls) in the IPL 2025. Against a high-quality Punjab Kings outfit, Abhishek unleashed his magic as he helped SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) chase down 246, and that too, with 9 balls to spare. Watching these mayhem innings by Abhishek gets you excited as an Indian fan. He really has a high ceiling. Someone who can completely put away opposition inside the powerplay and can go and reach triple-digit scores too.
‘C’ for Consistency still lacking for SRH star
However, just like every batter who operates in the sixth gear, Abhishek has his inconsistencies as well. Notwithstanding how crazily the southpaw bats, he must not slip now. As exciting as he may be, Abhishek will have an acid test at the Asia Cup, with the likes of Samson and Jaiswal breathing down his neck.
Despite being a generational talent like Jaiswal, he didn’t make it to the final squad. Despite scoring three hundreds in a span of a handful of games, Samson is likely to be axed too from the starting lineup. Hence, Abhishek must know that there’s no guarantee in the Indian top-order in T20Is after a bag of failures.
As talented as he is, Abhishek has has inconsistencies as well. Not long ago, in 2024, Abhishek needed one big innings as he was on the verge of getting dropped. After his maiden T20I ton against Zimbabwe after the T20 World Cup 2024, Abhishek failed in the next seven innings. In the three-match bilateral against Bangladesh, he managed a total of 35 runs. After scores of 7 and 4 in the first two T20Is against South Africa, India could’ve easily made way for him.
Save best for Asia Cup?
Credit to Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir, they stuck and Abhishek hit a timely half-century. After another rapid start in the next game, Abhishek got a rope to play the five T20Is against England. In the series, he ended up as the highest run-getter with 279 runs at an immaculate strike rate of 219.68. Fans hoped Abhishek would tear it apart at the IPL 2025 but then again, he failed to find consistency.
In the first five games for SRH this season, he made a grand total of 51 runs as SRH remained without many wins as well. It was later in the season when Abhishek put in a string of strong scores. At the Asia Cup 2025, he wouldn’t find bowling of say IPL’s quality. However, it is an international multi-nation event and when you know your spot as equally abled replacements, the pressure builds on. Abhishek has worked on his fitness in the off season and fans would want him to continue to be the wrecker-in-chief that he is going into the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup 2026.
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