Saba Karim, the ex-India cricketer, has expressed his support for Abhishek Sharma’s potential to take on the all-rounder position in the coming five-game T20 series between Zimbabwe and India. The first match between India and Zimbabwe will be played on Saturday, July 6th at Harare Sports Club, Harare. Some players are experiencing their first India tour meaning they will be playing for the first time, one of whom is twenty-three-year-old batman Abhishek Sharma.
A top order batsman was in enthralling form with the willow in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 amassing an immense 484 runs in 16 innings at 32.26 average and a breathtaking strike rate of 204.21. It was the fearless style of cricket that brought the attention of everyone to the left hander during that season and he deservedly got into the Indian side.
Abhishek, who will be the subject of the series, was discussed by Saba Karim to do good jobs in batting and also bowl a little bit in support.
“Beyond being an effective batsman, he is also an all-rounder who bowls slow left-arm orthodox. His ability to dual wield in terms of being handy to any team in virtually any of the twelve positions in a match. If he ever gets an opening, I suppose his perfect role would be at the top of the order and bowl just a couple of overs thus vital for India,” said karim in his interaction with Sony Sports.
During qualifier 2 against RR in the IPL, Abhishek was able to pick up Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer becoming the prized scalps of his left-arm spin. Besides this, Karim remarked that he should only open since he has excelled and developed as a player in such a role.
“Whether he will receive that role is what the team management thinks and I believe selectors are also viewing it the same way. If he is to play then I would say this would be an ideal position for him Back home in India at the IPL opener slots where he has always done well since childhood years up to now when he is playing far better than before- He has matured a lot more over time- He performed well at Sunrisers while earlier captaining Punjab where he won them the Mushtaq Ali T20 last year- These are some of the things that you will find in Abhishek Sharma,” Said karim.
Significantly, in 2023, Abhishek achieved the first Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy win for Punjab, ending up as the second highest run scorer in the event with a total of 485 runs in his ten innings, at an average of 48.50 and a strike rate of 192.46, posting two centuries and three half-centuries. He will be very enthusiastic because of his excellent performance during the inaugural T20I of the season for him and the beginning of his international career.
