Aakash Chopra played the trending 'This or That' contest, where he had to pick the best T20I batter in the world after the five-match T20I series between
India and South Africa.
The former India opener had to choose between Australian captain Mitchell Marsh and experienced South Africa batter David Miller in the first round of the segment hosted by ESPNcricinfo. Chopra went ahead with the former. He continued with Marsh, ignoring the likes of Dewald Brevis and Tim Seifert.
However, his vote went to Tilak Varma when the Hyderabad batter stood opposite Marsh. In the next five rounds, Chopra picked Tilak over Kusal Mendis, Phil Salt, Shubman Gill, Josh Inglis, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz. However, the Indian left-handed batter was let go when Travis Head's name popped up.
The destructive Australian batter won the next two rounds against veterans Jos Buttler and Suryakumar Yadav. Head also went on to get picked ahead of Tim David in the following round. However, Head's opening partner at Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Abhishek Sharma, displaced him. The Punjab batter went on to become the winner of the best T20I batter contest, as per Chopra.
Abhishek Sharma finishes as India's leading run-getter in T20Is in 2025
Abhishek Sharma made his international debut in July 2024 against Zimbabwe. He registered a duck on his debut but followed it up with a blistering century in the next game and never looked back. 2025 turned out to be a memorable year with the bat for Abhishek as he cemented his spot at the top of the order for the Men in Blue in the shortest format.
In 21 T20Is this year, he amassed 859 runs at an average of 42.95 and a strike rate of 193.46. No other Indian batter scored more runs than him in T20I cricket. Abhishek will be one of the players to watch out for in next year's T20 World Cup. The Player of the tournament in the 2025 Asia Cup will look to have a stellar campaign in his first ICC event for the senior Indian team.
