Irfan Pathan Impressed With Abhishek Sharma Batting: Team India’s explosive opening batsman Abhishek Sharma has created a distinct identity for himself in T20 International in a very short time. Abhishek puts pressure on the opposition teams by playing big shots from the initial overs and with the help of his explosive innings, India gets a good start. Abhishek Sharma played a quick inning of 84 runs during the first T20 International match against New Zealand on Wednesday, January 21, 2026. On the basis of his strong innings, the Indian team made a huge score of 238 runs. Abhishek was chosen ‘Player of the Match’ for his brilliant performance, after which former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan has described Abhishek Sharma as a strong contender for Team India for the future in the 50 over format.

What did Irfan Pathan write about Abhishek Sharma?

Irfan Pathan wrote on his X account, ‘Abhishek Sharma should be included in the plan for the 50-over World Cup. At present, players like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad are ahead of him, but imagine if Abhishek takes maximum advantage of the powerplay in ODI like in T20. While recommending Abhishek’s place in the team for the ODI World Cup to be held in 2027, Irfan said that his aggressive style can prove to be a game-changer for India in the powerplay.

Abhishek Sharma should be in the considerations for the 50-over World Cup. Guys like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad are ahead of him at the moment. But imagine him maximizing the powerplay in a similar fashion to T20s.

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 22, 2026

Irfan Pathan gave statement on Abhishek Sharma

Irfan Pathan’s statement on Abhishek Sharma has come at a time when Abhishek played an explosive inning of 84 runs in just 35 balls in the first T20 International match played against New Zealand in Nagpur. His innings included 5 fours and 8 sixes. Thanks to Abhishek’s strong innings, India set a mountain-like target of 238 runs, due to which New Zealand had to face defeat by 48 runs. Abhishek Sharma is currently the world number-1 batsman in T20 International.

Suryakumar Yadav Took U turn On His Statement: The ICC T20 World Cup 2026, hosted by India and Sri Lanka, is going to start from 7th February. Expectations from Team India regarding this tournament are continuously increasing. One and a half years ago, under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, the Indian team became world champion in this tournament. Whereas this time under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav, Team India will try to save this title. In such a situation, there will be a lot of responsibility on the team and especially on Captain Suryakumar. Now the hope is that by coming so close to the tournament, Team India will be clear about its strategies. However, it seems that the Indian team is still not completely confident about its batting order. For this reason, within a month the Indian captain has retracted his statement.

What did captain Suryakumar Yadav say on the batting order?

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav came for a press conference on Tuesday i.e. January 20, 2026, where he answered questions related to the 5-match T20 series against New Zealand starting on Wednesday i.e. January 21. During this time, when he was asked about the playing eleven, he told that Ishan Kishan will be given a chance in place of injured Tilak Verma and he will come to bat at number 3.

However, when Suryakumar was asked about his batting order, the Indian captain announced that he would bat at number 4 instead of number 3 and while explaining the reason for this, he said, ‘My figures are good at both number 3 and number 4. Maybe fourth place is a little better. We want to be flexible about this and if the right-handed batsman is out then I will go, otherwise the left-handed batsman (Tilak Verma if fit) will go.

Suryakumar took a U-turn on his words within a month

Suryakumar Yadav had given a statement regarding left-right combination exactly a month ago. In which he had called it overrated and he was seen against it. At the same time, ever since head coach Gautam Gambhir has been associated with Team India, he has been following the policy of left-right combination. But in the press conference held during the announcement of Team India for the T20 World Cup on December 21, 2025, captain Suryakumar Yadav was seen turning away from that policy.

Then the Indian captain had described Tilak as the number-3 batsman and said, ‘We have come to a point where Gauti Bhai (coach Gambhir) and I feel that the left-right combination is a bit overrated. Now we have decided that Tilak will play at number 3 and I will play at number 4.