“He used to hit the ball outside the ground even in U-19” - Rahul Sharma compares Abhishek Sharma with legend after 113 in NZ vs IND 2026 3rd T20I

With star batter Abhishek Sharma's rise in T20 cricket, he has often been compared to the greats of the format, including Indian legend Rohit Sharma. Former India cricketer Rahul Sharma weighed in on the comparison after the third T20I against New Zealand.

India won by six wickets, and Abhishek Sharma was named 'Player of the Match' for his 113 off just 38 balls. With the two being compared, Rahul recalled how Rohit Sharma would bat aggressively even when T20 cricket was not a big thing in India. He added that Abhishek has been more exposed to the shorter format early on as compared to Rohit. However, he praised the left-hander for improving his game over time.

"Abhishek had the opportunity to see and grow with T20 cricket because of the time he came in. But he (Rohit) used to hit the ball outside the ground even in U-19. I have played with him from that time. T20 was not even there at that time. Rohit used to play that way before. Both have come from different setups. So you cannot compare Abhishek to Rohit. But Abhishek is showing good game awareness and better shot selection," he said on 'Ash ki Baat'.

It was Abhishek Sharma's fourth T20I hundred. Meanwhile, Rohit holds the record for the most T20I hundreds by an Indian, with five centuries to his name.

Rahul Sharma on whether Abhishek Sharma can play ODIs

Given Abhishek Sharma's impressive T20 performances, another question is whether he should be picked in India's ODI side as well. In the same video, Rahul Sharma expressed that the two formats were very different and required different batting skills.

That said, he reckoned that the explosive Indian opener could be added to the ODI setup as well in the future.

"ODI is a different game. 50 overs is long. You need to know how to set the game. In T20, you can play with the same gear, and even if you flop in ten games, the coach will back you, as they know you can win the game once you get going. But Rohit has batted differently in each format. But yes, going forward, you can put Abhishek in ODIs," he said.

Abhishek Sharma has played 69 List A matches so far. He has scored 2196 runs at an average of 33.78 and a strike rate of 100.18, with four hundreds and eight half-centuries to his name.

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