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'I First Met Him In...,' Abhishek Sharma Reveals His Memorable Encounter With Yuvraj Singh

image-lrhgzoeiAbhishek Sharma [X.com]

Abhishek Sharma spoke in glowing praise of his cricketing idol and mentor Yuvraj Singh and expressed gratitude towards the Indian cricket giant for guiding him on and off the field. 

The Punjab allrounder, who is eyeing a bumper domestic season and prolific IPL campaign for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), underlined how big an impact Yuvraj has had in his path and how he continues to play a supporting pillar for him. 

Speaking to Hindustan Times, the 23-year-old, who is one of the talented Punjab cricketers whom Yuvraj took under his wings at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic alongside Shubman Gill, revealed the 2011 champion has worked extensively on his mental space and temperament at the crease besides sharing technical advice. 

Abhishek Sharma On Yuvraj Singh, Brian Lara 

"Whatever technical adjustments I needed it was done by Yuvi paaji. He was my idol when I started playing cricket. I always wanted to be like him. I first met him in the Punjab team. He was available for a few matches and I had just entered the team."


"I used to follow whatever he was doing. Then I don't know how we developed such a strong bond. Maybe he saw something in me. He always guides me."

Apart from Yuvraj, Abhishek has taken his game to the next level learning from Brian Lara, the West Indies batting legend and the former SRH coach. After being purchased at the mega auction for a sum of INR 6.5 crores ahead of IPL 2023, Abhishek not only earned regular opportunity to open the innings but fastened his growth soaking Lara's brains. 

"When I was with Brian Lara for two years, he told me to be tactical. How to score runs in different situations, how to just take a backseat when bowlers are bowling well."


"He stressed on planning. He always talked about targeting bowlers and calculating what runs I would score before the bowler starts to bowl. It gave me more clarity," he added. 

The young talent, who was one of the heroes of Punjab's recent Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 win with a whopping 485 runs at a strike-rate of 192.46, will now hope to build on his experience and lessons with another fruitful campaign for the 'Orange Army' in IPL 2024.