‘He wants a way to get into the Test team’ – Brian Lara confirms Abhishek Sharma’s red-ball dream

Abhishek Sharma (Source: Sajjad Hassain/Getty Images)

Former West Indian legend Brian Lara has disclosed about Abhishek Sharma‘s hunger and desire of playing Test cricket for India. Having already played 24 T20Is up until now, Abhishek is yet to debut in ODIs and Tests, but has been the top-ranked batter in the shortest format of the game, having registered a couple of centuries already.

Lara commended Abhishek and called him an ‘amazing young player’. He also described how his several batting attributes were similar to his mentor and veteran India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. The legendary cricketer could not praise Abhishek’s talent enough, admitting that he had ‘grown very fond of him (Abhishek)’. The former Caribbean cricketer complimented the left-handed top-order batter for improving his batting by leaps and bounds over time.

“I know Abhishek from my time at SRH. I was there during the Covid years (batting coach and strategic advisor in 2022 and head coach in 2023). He is an amazing young player and I think he is something very special. Yuvraj Singh has had a big influence on him — his bat speed, the way he hits the ball, the way he plays through the line. You can see the Yuvraj effect in him,” stated Lara, as quoted by India Today.

“He gives me a call once in a while, and what stands out is that despite his success in T20s, he still wants to find a way to get into the Test team, which is great. For someone like that to think so big is very special. I don’t have a soft spot per se, but I’ve grown very fond of him. It’s great to see how much he has improved and how far he has come. He’s taken his game to another level,” he added.

Abhishek has played 24 First-Class matches, tallying 1071 runs at an average close to 30. He is coming off a successful Asia Cup 2025 campaign for India. With 314 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 200, Abhishek was awarded the Player of the Tournament award. The Amritsar-born recently took part in a couple of games for India A at home against the visiting Australian side. Next up in his international assignments, he has been selected in the T20I line-up for the white-ball series against Australia.

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