Yuvraj trains Abhishek ahead of Australia tour

Fresh from his Asia Cup exploits, rising star Abhishek Sharma has switched to game-mode as he gears up for a maiden Australia tour. Abhishek is part of India’s T20I squad for a five-match bilateral series

Down Under, slated to get underway later this month.

The 25-year-old shared a clip of his training session with batting legend and mentor Yuvraj Singh. The opener can be seen polishing his big-hitting skills before also rolling his arm over.

Abhishek won the player-of-the-tournament award as an unbeaten India won the Asia Cup in the UAE last month. He scored 314 from 7 innings at a strike-rate of 200.

After returning home, Abhishek recalled how Yuvraj took him under his wings during the COVID lockdown following his request, as he felt left behind with his peers graduating to international level. Alongside Shubman Gill, Prabhsimran Singh, and Anmolpreet Singh, the youngster set up a camp at the two-time World Cup winner’s residence and began working on his game.

“I was struggling a bit back then. I wasn’t consistent in the IPL and was not even in the playing XI, while players from my age group, like Shubman, were already playing for India. I started to feel left behind,” Abhishek said on the Breakfast With Champions show.

Yuvraj told him that he will start winning matches for India in the next couple of years.

“Main tujhe ready kar raha hun taki tu India ko matches jeetaye (I’m preparing you to win matches for India). Write this down – it will happen in the next two to three years,” Abhishek recalled.

Abhishek has played 24 T20Is for India so far and scored 849 runs at a strike-rate of 196.07. He has struck two centuries and five half-centuries and a best individual score of 135, which is the highest by an Indian batter in T20I history.

The five-match T20I series between India and Australia starts from October 29 in Canberra.