‘Dhoni-style helicopter cover drive’: India legend raves about Abhishek Sharma’s ‘inside-out shot’ in Pakistan Asia Cup match

Abhishek’s Dhoni-like hit to reach 50

Batting in the eighth over, Abhishek reached his half-century with a shot of sheer brilliance and brute as Saim Ayub attempted to slid the ball into his pads. In a nimble move down to the leg-side, Abhishek opened up his front leg and whipped the ball through the extra cover for a gorgeous four to mark his milestone in style, even bringing memories of former India captain MS Dhoni to Ashwin.

“Abhishek Sharma hit an inside-out MS Dhoni-style helicopter cover drive. Everybody will talk about the five sixes that he hit, but I want to talk about this cover drive, because there was finesse in this shot. Despite only having one bat swing, he can adjust his down swing. If one batter, with one down swing, can make batting look so easy, then why will you not watch that batsman day in and day out,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

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Abhishek can match up to Yuvi

With 173 runs at a jaw-dropping 208.43 strike rate and 40-plus average, Abhishek leads the batting charts in the Asia Cup and Ashwin feels the Punjab batter has the qualities to emulate his mentor Yuvraj Singh’s accomplishments in India colours

“I want to tell you that this is not the arrival of Abhishek Sharma, this is just the beginning. He has just started, and he has a long future ahead. He is going to blow the cricketing world apart. Take that in writing. He has so much ability, just like how Yuvraj Singh became India’s marquee white-ball cricketer. the best white-ball batter in limited overs cricket for India, he, can reach that level easily. I think he is going to carry Yuvraj’s legacy forward, he is a phenomenal talent,” Ashwin said.

Of all batters who have struck at least 1000 runs since 2024, Abhishek is the only batter to record his runs at a strike-rate in excess of 200 in all T20s. The dashing batter will return to action next on Wednesday when India face Bangladesh in Dubai.

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