In cricket, the left-hander brings a unique dimension to any batting lineup. They are elegant (yes, even Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Fawad Alam), bring natural flair to strokeplay, disrupt conventional bowling rhythms and offset field settings in their own special, rare-breed way. Indian cricket's had its own pantheon of invaluable lefties, from Nari Contractor and WV Raman to Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh.
Not too long ago, one would draw a blank before the question of who was going to be the next pedigreed left-handed batter to make it big in Indian cricket, especially after Shikhar Dhawan's departure from the national side. Suddenly, we have four—Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant—all of whom can walk into the side any given day considering it's the right format.
But we're on to something different. There's a fifth name in the mix, and despite doing justice to his IPL cred as a fearless boundary-clearer, there's still some mist surrounding Abhishek Sharma's candidature. In IPL 2024, the fresh-faced Sharma opened the batting for the Sunrisers Hyderabad alongside Travis Head. What was impressive was how he held his own in the carnage that the top order unleashed throughout the season. To match Travis Head shot for shot isn't a mean feat now, is it?
Anyway, what we're saying is, after his explosive 79 versus England on Wednesday, we are beginning to get the hype around Sharma. He's often compared to Yuvraj Singh (he also comes from Punjab, and has trained with the former Indian batter). The southpaw is yet to stake a claim as a consistent performer, though, despite breaking out with a 100 versus Zimbabwe in his debut series last year.
So, can he be India's next big-hitting Mr Dependable? Here's how it looks like.
He hits them clean and hits them long
The lean and compact Sharma is known for his ability to clear the ropes easily thanks to his fluid swing of the bat and low centre of gravity. He hit the most sixes (42) last IPL. The great thing is that he is equally effective against spin—a department that most young left-handed batters from India currently don't do very well against. If he gets the long rope in the shortest format of the game, Sharma could blossom into exactly the kind of entity that can end matches very quickly.
He can bowl
Much like Yuvraj Singh, who Mahendra Singh Dhoni often brought in to pick crucial wickets as well as bowl economical overs, Sharma can be groomed into an effective sixth-bowling option. He started out as an allrounder and his left-arm orthodox spin, much like that of Singh, could come in handy if used at the right junctures.
A livewire in the field
From whatever we've seen of him in the IPL and the months following his debut, Sharma has sharp reflexes and can pull off tough catches. His calm demeanour also enables him to stay cool during clutch moments—where throws have to be collected, stumps have to be broken and mix-ups made the most of. If he can be intense and involved, and plug runs on the field, Sharma could surely go from regular starter to a must-have. Need we say more?
Here's what needs to go right
It will be big shoes to fill if Abhishek Sharma wants to attain the kind of significance and stature that Singh commanded in his heyday. The latter played a major role not only in the 2007 WT20 and 2011 50-Over World Cup victories, but consistently took the team home in numerous famous wins both at home and abroad.
Sharma has the ability to whack bowlers around and, at 24, he has seven years of experience playing with some of the biggest names in the business. When he started out as a 17-year-old, he used to bat in the lower middle order. The shortest format of the game should give him enough time and matches to express himself, during which he can learn to soak pressure and build an innings. If he can prove that he belongs here when the team needs him, Sharma might be able to give another dimension to his protégé-mentor relationship with Singh—and come good on fans' expectations.