Former CSK superstar Subramaniam Badrinath has explained that Abhishek Sharma’s supreme form in the shortest format of the game is due to Yuvraj Singh’s invaluable advice to the batter to focus on white-ball cricket only.
The 25-year-old Punjab batter Abhishek Sharma came to the limelight with his commanding performance in the IPL 2024 season for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He had a former Indian all-rounder, Yuvraj Singh, who mentored him on his way to success.
He made his debut for India after the 2024 T20 World Cup and soon became one of India’s batting pillars in the format, but earned a reputation for being at his explosive best for India. He has been in red-hot form and once again gained the spotlight with a blistering 20-ball 68* run knock in Guwahati.
Your daily dose of cricket!
“Yuvraj has seemingly told Abhishek Sharma to forget about red-ball cricket” – Subramanian Badrinath
Former Chennai Super Kings batsman Subramaniam Badrinath believed that playing only the T20I format is what has helped Abhishek Sharma transform into a beast cricketer in the format and achieve incredible success.
The former MS Dhoni teammate has also opined that the legendary Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has possibly told the youngster to focus only on white-ball formats and to not bring the question of red-ball cricket under consideration.
“Yuvraj Singh may have helped him a lot technically and tactically. But I feel that where he has helped the most is bringing clarity to Abhishek Sharma.
“The most important thing Yuvraj has seemingly told Abhishek is to forget about red-ball cricket. He has probably told Abhishek to focus only on white-ball cricket, especially T20 cricket, which comes naturally to him. No one could have given him better advice than this,” Badrinath said on Star Sports after Abhishek’s magnificent innings in Guwahati.
Badrinath cited Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya’s example as one-format cricketers
Subramanium Badrinath went on to point out to Abhishek Sharma that playing only one format has often helped players to be their very best. He cited the example of legendary Indian cricketer Virat Kohli, who has been in dream touch in ODIs after he announced his retirement from Tests and T20I cricket.
“In recent cricket, people who are playing only one format are doing exceedingly well. It gives them a lot of clarity on their skill sets. Sometimes when you play multiple formats, the formats get crossed over each other, and you get confused,” he stated.
Badrinath also named Hardik Pandya as a one-format cricketer. However, Pandya has not played in ODIs either due to injuries or due to workload issues; however, the all-rounder intends to play both ODI and T20I formats for India.
“Look at Virat Kohli, he is playing only one format and taking his game to another level. Hardik Pandya is playing only T20 cricket and doing exceedingly well,” he continued.
“One-format players will soon become the norm” – Subramaniam Badrinath
Subramanium Badrinath believes that one-format players will soon become usual in international cricket. Teams will soon have three different playing 11s across three formats, with only a few playing multiple formats for their nation.
Badrinath has also cited the hectic schedule in franchise cricket, which has already led to players opting out of one or two formats internationally.
“It gives a lot of clarity from the physical training and practice when you train for only one format. So you come fresher and much more fitter. It’s going to be the future. One-format players will soon become the norm with a completely different T20, ODI, and Test team. It won’t take too long before this happens. There will be a pool of around 45 players to play with different teams for each format,” said Badrinath (via the aforementioned source).
ALSO READ: Abhishek Sharma outgunned as Gautam Gambhir’s ex-teammate names a more explosive T20 batter
