Ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup, Ravi Shastri predicted India opener Abhishek Sharma to be the most impactful player in the tournament. The batter is in hot form and smacked 84 runs off 35 balls, laced with five fours and eight sixes, in the first T20I against New Zealand, helping India to a 48-run victory.
Since making his India debut in 2024, Abhishek has gone on to become a mainstay in the T20I setup. He has also cemented his place in the playing XI and is currently the world’s No. 1 batter in the format.
Speaking at an ICC event, Shastri was asked to predict the most impactful player in the upcoming T20 World Cup, and he named Abhishek. “Abhishek, without a shadow of doubt. (He’s the) No. 1 T20 batsman in the world (and is) in a rich vein of form,” he said.
“Last evening (on Wednesday),he took the game away from New Zealand. You’ve got to watch out for him because his confidence level is high. He’ll be backed by the home crowd, and if he takes off, it means India takes off,” he added.
Abhishek had his breakthrough IPL season in 2024, finishing the season with 484 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 200. He was SRH’s second-highest run-scorer after Travis Head. He also bagged the Most Sixes award for slamming the highest number of maximums (42) in that season.
In IPL 2025, he got his first ton of the tournament in 40 balls vs PBKS. He smacked 141 runs off 55 balls, the highest individual score by an Indian and the third-highest score by any batter in IPL history. It is also the highest score by an SRH batter and the fifth-fastest ton in IPL.
He gained international recognition with his maiden T20I ton in his debut series for India. He got the century in the second match of the series. He also became the fourth batter to get a maiden T20I ton before 24 years of age. At the 2025 Asia Cup, he was the highest run-scorer with 314 runs in seven innings and also broke the record of most runs scored in a T20I edition of the continental tournament. He was also adjudged as the Player of the Tournament.
