Abhishek, born in Amritsar as the youngest of three siblings, is the perfect batter for his time in India.
After their lacklustre exit at the hands of England in the 2022 World Cup, Rohit Sharma set about implementing a more aggressive style.
Rohit led India to the T20 World Cup title in Barbados last June and, when he retired in the aftermath, Abhishek was where India turned.
He was given a debut against Zimbabwe in July in India’s first series after lifting the trophy in Bridgetown and hit a century in the second match.
“Abhishek scored a massive number of runs in the under-16 nationals but really the transformation began when he went to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, having initially played for Delhi Daredevils and not done much,” said Wakankar.
Abhishek had a solid IPL season in 2023 but it was last year he made his name.
He was united with Australia batter Travis Head at the top of the order and together the pair helped Sunrisers break the record for the competition’s highest total twice.
Abhishek, able to work with Sunrisers batting coach Brian Lara, scored at a devastating strike-rate of 204.21 across 16 matches.
He scored 484 runs in the season despite never playing an innings lasting more than 29 balls. Against England, he took on all of that brutal yet elegant power-hitting, only this time went on to play the match-winning hand.
“A very welcome change is to see more and more of that Yuvi-esque full face and flow of the bat,” said Wakankar.
“He gives it the full swing when he plays either side of the wicket and has a good flick when he gets inside the line of the ball.”
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