He put Abhishek Sharma on the same pedestal as Rohit Sharma

Abhishek Sharma led the team to a comfortable victory in the first T20I of the war between India and England at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Abhishek was in good form in the game and played freely..

After his brilliant knock, former India opener Akash Chopra compared him to Rohit Sharma, who retired from T20Is after the T20 World Cup 2024.

Aakash praised Abhishek for his brilliant innings against a quality bowling attack. It was a crucial innings for the youngster who was under a lot of pressure coming into this game.

Also Read: Shocking! Varun Chakraborty rated strange after heroics in 1st IND vs ENG T20I

Akash Chopra compares Abhishek Sharma with Rohit Sharma.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Akash Chopra compared Abhishek Sharma to Rohit Sharma and described his knock against England in the first T20I as important. He praised Abhishek for his brilliant innings against a brilliant bowling attack.

“Abhishek Sharma – we believe in karma, we believe in Sharma. We used to say that to Rohit. It’s too early to say the same to Abhishek, but he made Abhishek (an exciting start). I thought it was important,” said Chopra.

“The opposition had some decent bowling – Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton. It’s a good bowling attack. He had to play well to score in such conditions. He hit well from the start.” He hits Mark Wood for a six, then a six over third man and a straight four.

Abhishek Sharma was furious from the first ball and put the English bowlers under the pump. He was particularly aggressive against Gus Atkinson and Adil Rashid and once he was set, he never stopped.

“You could have looked at Yashasvi (Jaiswal)” – Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra feels that Yashasvi Jaiswal could be included in place of Abhishek Sharma due to the latter’s poor outings with the bat in the last few T20Is. However, he delivered at the right time for the pressure to act.

Chopra said, “Abhishek Sharma is under pressure because he played but didn’t score many runs. The pattern of this team is to hit fours and sixes and maximize the powerplay, but if you get out for threes, they will drop you.”

“You could have looked at Imekeshvi (Jaiswal). He could have done this series and nobody would have raised an eyebrow or batted an eyelid,” he said.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was in India’s T20I squad even before Abhishek Sharma. Jaiswal was in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 but did not get a game. However, since Abhishek’s T20I debut, he has not played any T20Is and was only considered for Tests.

Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakraborty will shine for India

Abhishek Sharma smashed 79 off just 34 deliveries to lead India to a massive win in the first T20I against England. He He smashed 5 fours and 8 sixes while knocking. He was at his best and showed full range of shots.

Earlier, India restricted England to 132 in the first innings. The men in blue hit the target at 12. 5 chased on the back of a brilliant knock by Abhishek. Varun Chakraborty was adjudged Man of the Match after taking 3-23 in four overs.