Suryakumar Yadav opens up on backing Abhishek Sharma during rough patch, says, ‘You will always be part…

Team India's T20I skipper Suraykumar Yadav reflected on how he backed Abhishek Sharma in tough times, particularly during his international debut last year against Zimbabwe following India's T20 World Cup win.

New Delhi: Abhishek Sharma has been in the spotlight recently for his stellar performances in the 2025 Asia Cup, but he once struggled to find consistency in India’s T20 side. The left-handed batter, was recently awarded the Player of the Tournament after finishing as the leading run-scorer with 314-run in the eight-team event, which included three half-centuries.

Abhishek made his international debut last year against Zimbabwe following India’s T20 World Cup win. However, the 25-year-old initially faced a string of low scores before hitting his stride.

Suryakumar reflected on how he backed Abhishek Sharma

At the JITO Connect 2025, Team India skipper reflected on how he backed Abhishek Sharma during his rough patch, “When you see someone working really hard, when you see a spark in someone, for example, Abhishek Sharma, I’ve seen him bat. I’ve seen him, how he reached the top level, what has given him that identity.

“In first few games, when I told him that you will open for India for quite some time. He didn’t have a good few games, good few series. Then I was like, Just relax. Do the same thing what you’ve been doing for your franchise, for your don’t change your identity. Just keep batting. Even anything you do for the team, anything which has a team goal in it, you will always be part of this side.” SKY said

#WATCH | Hyderabad, Telangana | At the JITO Connect 2025, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav says, "When you see someone working very hard, a spark in someone, for example – Abhishek Sharma, I have seen him bat, how he reached the top level…When I told him that you would open for… pic.twitter.com/QQJx7zKgeF

— ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2025

With his standout performance in the Asia Cup 2025, Abhishek Sharma reached 931 rating points, breaking the record for batters in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings, surpassing England’s Dawid Malan, who had 919 in 2020.

Suryakumar opened up on how Tilak wanted to take the responsibility

Suryakumar also opened up about Tilak Varma and said how he wanted to take the responsibility, “Tilak was also batting really well at that time. And he was like, Let me have that responsibility, let me bat over there. I thought, if someone is playing with so much, so much positivity, I was like, just bat and just enjoy. Even if nothing happens, don’t worry, you’ll bat at your normal position. And the way he batted, the way he score century, the way he batted him in the Asia Cup, I think that was a tournament-deciding moment.”

Tilak Varma was named the Player of the match in the final clash against Pakistan. He played a calm and composed knock, scoring 69 off 53, helping India secure their 9th Asia Cup title.

Tilak scored a total of 213 runs in 7 matches at an impressive average of 71.00 and strike rate of 131.48.

Story Highlight

1. Abhishek Sharma has been in the spotlight recently for his stellar performances in the 2025 Asia Cup, but he once struggled to find consistency in India’s T20 side.
2. Abhishek made his international debut last year against Zimbabwe and he initially faced a string of low scores before hitting his stride.
3. Team India skipper Suryakumar Yadav reflected on how he backed Abhishek Sharma during his rough patch.
4. Suryakumar also showered praise on Tilak Varma’s positive intent which helped India secure their 9th Asia Cup title.