IND vs NZ 2026: ‘He is pretty good-looking as well’ – Former India batter’s bizarre take on Abhishek Sharma after 14-ball fifty in 3rd T20I

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar intriguingly praised Abhishek Sharma’s facial features after the southpaw smashed a 14-ball half-century in the third T20I versus New Zealand at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday, January 25. Abhishek eventually finished unbeaten on 68 off 20 balls as India chased down a 154-run target in 10 overs to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

Abhishek has been in red-hot form in the shortest format in the last two years. He is currently the top-ranked batter in T20I cricket. On Sunday, he narrowly missed his mentor Yuvraj Singh’s record for the fastest fifty in T20Is. The former all-rounder had reached the milestone in 12 balls during a clash against England in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007.

Manjrekar, while explaining what makes Abhishek the perfect T20 batter, said that the 25-year-old doesn’t worry about personal milestones and looks to maximize each delivery. The former batter also added that Abhishek is “pretty good-looking.”

“So this is a guy who tries to maximize returns on every ball. Great ball-hitting talent, is unselfish, not afraid to get out, and doesn’t care about milestones, which is what makes him a sensational player. And he’s pretty good-looking as well,” Manjrekar said on his Instagram handle.

It’s a god-given talent. The other thing to like about him is that he is extremely unselfish. When you look at the hundreds he has got in T20Is, the strike rate is over 200. He is not somebody who is going to slow down just because he is in the 90s. He doesn’t care about getting out, which is a great quality to have in T20 cricket. First ball, he’ll take a risk and try to hit it for a six. Such batters are extremely dangerous. Not those who will hit a boundary and look to extend their innings,” he added.

India and New Zealand will lock horns in the fourth T20I on Wednesday, January 28, at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. While the series has already been bagged by the Men in Blue, both teams will look at the last two games as their final opportunities to rehearse before the T20 World Cup, starting on February 7.