The upcoming edition of the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-rajasthan-royals-captain-riyan-parag-speaks-about-replacing-sanju-samson-23621612" rel="nofollow">Indian Premier League</a> (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.
Ahead of the cash-rich league, former Team India cricketer Anil Kumble feels that Sunrisers Hyderabad's Abhishek Sharma needs to be normal while batting and play a certain number of balls.
"I would relate him to someone like Virender Sehwag, because he would look to smash every ball. When he moved from Test cricket to one-day cricket and then to T20 <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/watch-legendary-team-india-cricketer-sachin-tendulkar-extends-wishes-on-occasion-of-gudi-padwa-23621616" rel="nofollow">cricket</a>, he realised that he had to pace his innings slightly differently. But Sehwag would still go at a 140-150 strike-rate. So, that's something Abhishek Sharma needs to start thinking about, saying, 'I've been scoring at 200 strike-rate, expectations are on me, should I now go at a strike rate of 300?' No, you just have to be normal. You have to play a number of balls," he said on JioStar.
He then cited the example of Sanju Samson by saying that he bats deeper and makes his knock count by scoring 85 to 90 runs. The former cricketer then added that SRH will expect the same maturity from the left-handed batsman.
"If <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/team-india-abhishek-sharma-abhishek-sharma-pays-sacred-visit-to-vaishno-devi-temple-post-winning-t20-world-cup-23620712" rel="nofollow">Abhishek Sharma</a> bats 20 balls in an innings, we know he will be close to that 50 mark. We saw that with Sanju Samson, not getting out in the 40s or 50s, but making it count by going deeper, getting to that 85-90 mark. That's what you need in the T20 format. Maybe that's the kind of maturity you will see in Abhishek this season, which SRH will be hoping for," said Kumble.
Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers recollected Abhishek's run in the previous edition of the league, but also added that he needs to shoulder the responsibility.
"He's 25, not 20 anymore. So, this is definitely the phase where he has to start taking more responsibility. There will be media pressure and people asking him to become more consistent. We know he was a little inconsistent during the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/t20-world-up-2026-abhishek-sharma-backed-to-overcome-lean-patch-and-shine-for-india-in-super-eights-23617628" rel="nofollow">T20 World Cup</a>, which was disappointing. He had a good finish in the final, but otherwise, it was a quiet tournament for him. He was erratic at times. He had an unbelievable IPL 2025, scoring close to a 200 strike-rate and averaging in the 30s, which is good for an opening batter scoring over 400 runs in the tournament, but it could have been better," he said.
<h2>AB de Villiers' view on being the number one T20I batsman</h2>
AB de Villiers concluded by explaining the importance of being a number one batsman in the format internationally, and stated that the top ranking comes with the expectation.
"Once again, that word consistency comes to mind. It's a personal challenge he will have to overcome mentally. Being the number one international <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/nz-vs-sa-2nd-t20i-devon-conway-completes-6000-runs-in-international-cricket-for-new-zealand-23621240" rel="nofollow">T20I</a> batter in the world comes with expectation, and that is the most dangerous word in cricket, when you feel like the whole world is closing in on you, and it's up to him to fight those mental battles throughout this coming season," he signed off.
(With PTI Inputs)

IPL 2026: Former cricketer Anil Kumble feels that Sunrisers Hyderabad`s Abhishek Sharma needs to be normal while batting and play a certain number of balls

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Ahead of the cash-rich league, former Team India cricketer Anil Kumble feels that Sunrisers Hyderabad's Abhishek Sharma needs to be normal while batting and play a certain number of balls

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