Former South African batter AB de Villiers showered praise on Abhishek Sharma after India’s successful run in the Asia Cup. India won the continental tournament for the ninth time after beating Pakistan by five wickets in the final at Dubai on Sunday.

Abhishek played an instrumental role in India’s success throughout the tournament, scoring 314 runs in seven matches at an average of 44.86 and a blistering strike rate of 200. Thus, the left-hander was awarded Player of the tournament and he is also the number one batter in the ICC rankings.

“The Indian team is dominating the Asia Cup. It’s fascinating to see them so dominant in this format, and it’s no great surprise considering the quality of the IPL. The first name that comes to my mind is Abhishek Sharma, who is probably the best opening batsman in T20 cricket in the world right now,” said De Villiers on his YouTube Channel.

“When he comes out, India usually wins. He has the highest strike rate, I think around 190, for any batsman who has faced more than 250 balls. Absolutely amazing form,” De Villiers added.

On the other hand, Abhishek gave credit to captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir for backing his aggressive approach to the hilt.

Abhishek said in the post-match presentation, “I mean, of course, getting into this team after winning the World Cup, it wasn’t easy for any opener. But if you see, we had a plan that we want to play a game, you know, that we have to show intent from the first ball. So that was my plan, I worked really hard on that. And if you’re playing like this, you need special support from your coach and captain. I think that was the one thing I was getting from them throughout the tournament, before this as well.”

India will next face the West Indies in a two-match Test series at home.