Former Pakistan gun fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has hailed India’s young rising star, Abhishek Sharma. Akhtar predicted that Sharma has a bright future in front of him and he could be the next big thing in Indian cricket.

The left-hander has performed consistently in his young career so far and he has shown the skills to go a long way in his career. Sharma top-scored in the five-match T20I series against England, scoring 259 runs at an average of 55.80 and a strike rate of 219.69. 

The southpaw scored a breathtaking knock of 135 runs off just 54 balls with the help of seven fours and 13 sixes in the final game of the series at Mumbai. Thus, he played an instrumental role in taking India to a par score of 247 runs on the board.

Akhtar advised Sharma to keep backing his strengths in order to continue his good show at the top level.

Shoaib Akhtar said in a video uploaded on his X account, “I’m glad that I did not bowl in this era reason being people like this young lad (points to Abhishek). He got a hundred, and I watched your innings. It was fantastic, amazing, and I gave him an advice, ‘Don’t leave your strength.’

“Just ran into an exceptional talent Abhishek Sharma here in Dubai. He’ll do wonders in years to come,” Akhtar captioned the video.

The 24-year-old has scored 535 runs in 17 T20I matches at an average of 33.44 and a whirlwind strike rate of 193.85. Sharma had also performed consistently for SRH in IPL 2024 and had played a key role in taking SRH to the final of the tournament.

Meanwhile, India and Pakistan is all set to take on each other in the Champions League clash in Dubai on Sunday.