Abhishek Sharma was India’s standout batter in the just-concluded Asia Cup, amassing 314 runs in seven games with three scores of 50-plus and an astounding strike-rate of nearly 200. The 25-year-old from Punjab, who is the current world No. 1 batter in ICC rankings, was one of the big reasons that Suryakumar Yadav‘s side won the continental title. Barring the final against Pakistan, where Abhishek was out for 5, the SunRisers Hyderabad player got big scores in almost every match.
Now, Abhishek Sharma has been challenged by Pakistan pacer Ihsanullah. He is the same fast bowler who had bowled a 152.65 kmph delivery in the 2023 Pakistan Super League. That bowling performance saw him rise through the ranks. He even found T20Is and one ODI before injury sidelined him.
“If I get to play against India, I will dismiss Abhishek Sharma in 3-6 balls,” Ihsanullah said in a video.
Pakistan pacer Ihsanullah said, if he gets a chance, he would dismiss Abhishek Sharma within six balls.
— Vipin Tiwari (@Vipintiwari952) October 8, 2025
The comment was not taken well by social media.
Ihsanullah hath dhi k Abhishek k peeechy para hva hai. pic.twitter.com/26kqPejw8A
— Inzimam (@I_Engr56) October 9, 2025
Ihsanullah Claims that he will easily get @juniorbachchan out pic.twitter.com/BCfCLEltBL
— Pakistan Cricket Team USA FC (@DoctorofCricket) October 9, 2025
Abhishek was an integral part of an U-19 World Cup-winning Indian team, but it took more than six years to break into the senior set-up, and he is glad that he wasn’t fast-tracked like some of his batch-mates. Within a year of the 2018 junior World Cup triumph, his erstwhile skipper Prithvi Shaw made his Test debut and best buddy Shubman Gill broke into the ODI side. Abhishek agrees that while they took the “lift,” he benefitted from taking the “staircase.”
“Some get in straight. Some do everything. So I felt that I needed to do everything. Because as a player, if I had come straight into the team, then I would not have got a chance to learn all the things that I did learn,” said the newest heart-throb of India’s T20 set-up.