'He is going at about 2 runs per ball...': Australia great labels Abhishek Sharma as 'India's most important T20I batter'

Former Australia cricketers Jason Gillespie and Damien Fleming were left thoroughly impressed with Abhishek Sharma's performance in the shortest format. It has been an incredible year for Abhishek so far as not only has he firmly cemented his place in India's T20I set-up through some fine batting performances, but has also broken tons of records. He is currently the No.1 ranked T20I batter in the world according to ICC and has so far scored 961 runs in 26 T20I innings in 2025.

Gillespie pointed out that Abhishek bats with his aggressive approach from ball No.1 and leaves the crowd thoroughly entertained whenever he steps out to bat.

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"He (Abhishek Sharma) just goes out there and is aggressive. He runs at the first ball and just looks to put pressure on the opposition. He's an excitement machine and the anticipation of him walking out can be seen in the last couple of games," Gillespie said on the Fast Bowling Cartel YouTube channel.

Fleming's verdict on Abhishek

On the other hand, Fleming was also left in awe of Abhishek's batting and pointed out that he hasn't played a lot of domestic cricket, but is already a highly successful batter for India. He further went on to label the 25-year-old as India's "most important T20I batter".

"He's going at about two runs per ball. He hits them to all different angles. I looked up his record. He has hardly played any first-class cricket. He doesn't even play a lot of 50-over domestic cricket and still hasn't played a 50-over game for India. But he's just about their most important batter. This is like the new generation IPL player that just comes in and dominates one form, which is T20 cricket," Fleming said.

Abhishek's performance vs Australia

Meanwhile, after being dismissed cheaply for 19 runs in the first T20I, Abhishek went on to play a stunning knock of 68 in the second match. It was thanks to him that the visitors were able to post a respectable total of 125 before being bundled out. He followed that up with an inning of 25 runs in the third T20I and now will be aiming to score big in the fourth match that will be held on November 6 at the Carrara Oval in Queensland.