Former Indian batter Rohan Gavaskar has showered praise on Abhishek Sharma amid the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. Gavaskar said Sharma instils fear into the opposition bowlers, just like former legendary West Indies batter Sir Vivian Richards used to do.

Abhishek is the number one batter in the ICC T20I rankings and recently scored 182 runs in five matches against New Zealand at a strike rate of almost 250. But the left-hander was dismissed for a golden duck in the team’s opening game of the T20 World Cup against the USA at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

Sharma was ruled out of the match against Namibia due to stomach illness.

Rohan Gavaskar said on Cricbuzz, “Once you’ve got the weight of performances in the bank, even if you get out for a few first-ball ducks, you are still in the 11. So the fear of not being in the side is not there, which allows you to play without pressure. He puts the fear of God into the opposition. It’s what Viv Richards used to do in the 80s.”

The former left-hander said the opposition would not write off India even if they post 280 runs on the board as Abhishek can turn the match in the Powerplay overs.

He added, “If the opposition has got 280 in a T20 and India are chasing that, they won’t be thinking we’ve got this game in the bag. Because they know in the first six overs, if Abhishek bats through that period, India could well be in that chase.”

Gavaskar said Sharma would have been a great Test batter if he had played in the 1960s.

“It’s a naturally born ability. Like a Virat would have been great in any era. That’s when you are called an all-time great. Likewise, Abhishek Sharma, with the kind of ability he has, if he was playing in the 1960s, he would have been a quality Test player. You are a product of the environment you grow up in. He has enhanced that ability in T20s for this era. In another era, he would have excelled in the other formats,” said Gavaskar (via the aforementioned source).

Abhishek is expected to be fit for the high-octane clash against Pakistan.