“It took away Shaheen Shah Afridi’s threat” – Former India opener lauds Abhishek Sharma’s onslaught in IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2025 match

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has lauded Abhishek Sharma following his blazing start against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 match on Sunday, September 14. The cricketer-turned-analyst pointed out that the opener changed the complexion of the game by taking on Pakistan’s strike bowler, Shaheen Afridi, right from the word go by beginning his innings with a four and a six. Chasing a modest target of 128, the left-handed batter smashed 31 runs off 13 balls at a strike rate of 238.46, comprising two sixes and four boundaries.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo’s YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said:

“Abhishek Sharma – Outstanding (impact) actually, because he just allows everyone else to be just take your time. You can just stroll; you will still have enough time. That’s what he did. That onslaught in the beginning did two things: one, it took away Shaheen Shah Afridi’s threat… He decided to take him down by ball one itself. So, that was the statement of intent. After that, India were so far ahead in the game by the time he got out.”

Meanwhile, former batter Sanjay Bangar backed Abhishek Sharma to play his aggressive game while comparing him to India’s ODI skipper Rohit Sharma. The 52-year-old credited him for his power-packed batting display, saying:

“It's not, and it should not go that way (should Abhishek Sharma have milked the bowlers to get to his 50) because there is a role for each and every player in the T20 format. And because you have a player like Abhishek at the top of the order and India has been searching for a change in approach and that’s what even Rohit Sharma was trying to do, being the aggressor, giving India the push in the initial overs itself and that’s where I think Abhishek Sharma is made massive impact on the overall fortunes of this Indian team.”

Earlier in the opening game, the World No.1-ranked T20I batter, Abhishek Sharma, had slammed 30 off 16 balls against the UAE.

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“The skill aspect becomes really critical” – Former India batting coach lauds Suryakumar Yadav’s match-winning knock against Pakistan

Sanjay Bangar further lauded Suryakumar Yadav for his match-winning knock despite facing challenges against spinners in the run chase. The former India batting coach said in the same video:

“Suryakumar Yadav is a classic example of how he can really score runs square of the wicket when the ball starts to deviate a little bit. And I think that’s the template that this Indian team is following really, really well. So, the skill aspect becomes really critical when things get to such man.”

Notably, Suryakumar Yadav smashed 47 runs off 37 balls with the help of one six and five boundaries. The Men in Blue won the match by seven wickets with 4.1 overs to spare.

Click here to check out the full IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2025 scorecard.