As Abhishek Sharma prepares to play his first international match at home when India face South Africa in the second T20I in Mullanpur on Thursday, those who watched him grow insist that his explosive rise is no accident. Behind the six-hitting flair and the effortless swagger lies a training regimen forged long before he earned the India cap—one that began before sunrise and rarely paused through the day.
His father and childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, says that even as a young teenager, Abhishek lived like a professional cricketer.
“His days started at 4am,” Rajkumar told The Indian Express. “From gym and exercise to running and swimming—he did everything he could to constantly improve as a player.”
And when the physical training was done, Abhishek simply wanted to bat. Ground staff at Mohali still remember the young left-hander as the kid who made them fish balls out of the stands every time he trained. Even at 11 or 12, he was launching bowlers over the ropes—standing still or stepping out—something that Punjab junior coach Arun Bedi still marvels at.
“Abhishek would hit sixes with lofted shots at an age when boys are still learning to middle the ball. It spoke volumes about his skill,” Bedi said.
He and fellow junior coach DP Azad—who once coached Kapil Dev—spotted Abhishek and his childhood friend Shubman Gill at a U-14 camp in Mohali and predicted that both would play for India. Gill’s ascent was rapid, while Abhishek’s path took a little longer, but his father insists the belief never wavered.
Scared of Yuvraj Singh’s scolding
Away from home, some of the game’s greats have shaped his path. VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid in the India setup, Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara in the IPL, and most significantly, Yuvraj Singh, who began training with Abhishek during the lockdown.
Yuvraj’s mentorship, though, comes with uncompromising discipline.
“Even now, when he thinks Abhishek has made a mistake, he will pick up the phone and call and scold him,” Rajkumar said, laughing. “And Abhishek is scared of him too.”
The 25-year-old has also embraced golf under the influence of Lara and Yuvraj—not as a hobby but as a tool to sharpen his batting rhythm. “It has improved his bat swing, made it cleaner,” Rajkumar explained.
From hitting sixes as a schoolboy to smashing over 1000 international T20 runs in just 30 matches, the traits remain the same—fearless strokeplay supported by a foundation of years of unseen work. As he returns to Punjab colours this week, but this time wearing an India jersey, Abhishek walks out not just with expectation but with the backing of the people who built him: a father who woke with him before dawn, coaches who spotted something special early, and a legend who still calls to scold him when needed.
