NEW DELHI: Abhishek Sharma’s blistering power hitting has impressed the cricketing world over the last one year. His fearless approach at the top combined with consistency makes him a very special batter in modern cricket.

The young left hander has completely changed the perception around power hitters in the shortest format. He attacks from ball one yet manages to deliver in almost every match, which is not easy in T20 cricket.

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Kaif makes a blunt observation

Now former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has made a blunt statement on India’s talented opener. Kaif feels that players with such an attacking style usually struggle with consistency but Abhishek has broken that pattern.

“Usually, players who play like him are not consistent. I’ve seen many big-name players like this. Chris Gayle who used to play in a similar way always going for the big shots. But even Gayle played smart cricket. He would play the first over carefully especially on pitches like Bangalore where there was early help and then accelerate,” he said on his YouTube channel.

Abhishek is a different breed

Kaif believes Abhishek has gone a step ahead of even the greats of the game. According to him the youngster does not need time to settle and goes hard right from the start.

“Abhishek Sharma has surpassed that. He doesn’t need to settle his eyes he attacks straight away. So you can’t praise him enough,” Kaif said.

Kaif also pointed out how such batters are often tagged as hit or miss players but Abhishek keeps proving everyone wrong.

“Batters like this are usually inconsistent. One good innings then a few failures. But look at Abhishek’s style. He proves himself in every match. Even if he faces just 12 to 14 balls he scores 60 to 70 runs.”

Numbers that tell the story

The numbers back up Kaif’s words in every possible way. In just 35 innings in T20I cricket Abhishek Sharma has scored 1267 runs at an unbelievable strike rate of 195.23.

His short yet extremely impactful international career already includes 8 half centuries and 2 centuries. What stands out even more is his average which is over 38.