Former Indian opening batter Virender Sehwag has compared himself with Abhishek Sharma ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. Sharma has been in prime form and plays his game in an aggressive manner from the get-go, just like Virender Sehwag used to play.

The left-hander recently scored 182 runs in five matches against New Zealand at a strike rate of almost 250. He returned with scores of 84 runs off just 35 balls in the series opener and then smashed 68 runs off just 20 balls in the third game.

Furthermore, Abhishek is currently the number one T20I batter in the ICC rankings.

“It depends on the day, but I feel that Abhishek Sharma, if he fires and the way he plays, he will give a strong start to Team India just like I used to. Ishan Kishan scored a hundred against New Zealand with some destructive batting, and I had a lot of fun watching it. If I have to pick someone from the bowlers, it has to be Varun Chakaravarthy,” Virender Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

Earlier, Abhishek Sharma scored a fantastic knock of 74 runs off just 39 balls in the Asia Cup clash against Pakistan in 2025. Sehwag then advised the youngster not to miss out on a century after reaching the 70-run mark.

“Whenever you reach 70, don’t miss out on 100 because Sunil Gavaskar said to me – when you retire, you’ll remember the innings where you got out on 70 or 80. If you convert those, maybe your career will have more hundreds because these opportunities don’t come again and again. When you’re batting well, on your day, try to go not out – it’s better,” Sehwag had advised.

India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against the USA on February 7.