IPL 2025: Williamson reveals the superpower Abhishek has got in his batting

Speaking about man-in-form Abhishek Sharma, his former Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate Kane Williamson said that he can alter his shots at the last moment by generating immense power and finding gaps all over the field.

“He has got a great bat swing and is a natural timer of the ball,” Kane Williamson said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

In the previous edition of the IPL, Abhishek Sharma tasted immense success. Representing SRH in 16 innings, the left-hander finished the season with 484 runs with a strike rate of 204.21.

Shouldering him was swashbuckling Travis Head in SRH. In 2024, Abhishek debuted for India and registered two centuries in 17 T20Is.

“He has got that gift of power, but it`s not through brute force. It is through timing the ball and playing all around the ground, which is a superpower in a lot of ways. It`s a little bit like Heinrich Klaasen. I mean different with the brute strength but the ability to change your options and score pretty much all around the ground. Changing your shot at the last minute – because you`re not overhitting – is a skill that not many have,” he added.

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Williamson recalls that Abhishek`s potential was evident early on, even when SRH acquired him from Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) ahead of IPL 2019. At that point, he had played only three IPL matches, but his talent was undeniable.

“I think there were a few guys who were kind of under Yuvraj Singh`s wings,” Kane Williamson said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

“Abhi was one of them, and Shubman [Gill] was another. So clearly there was an identification of talent,” he added.

“Sometimes in the IPL, it`s quite difficult to have a long pathway for a young player. But yeah, a real masterstroke, obviously now bearing fruit with Abhi being one of the most dangerous T20 batters in the world,” he said.

“He was a jovial character, sort of happy-go-lucky, who took the game on. A lot of confidence as well that you do see in some of these young kind of superstar-type mould players,” he noted.

“A keen trainer, he would come in and whack and lose as many balls by hitting them as far as he could. At that younger age, there`s a real keenness to get involved as much as you can, and that was Abhi as well in those early stages at SRH,” he said.

So far, Abhishek Sharma`s premier format has T20Is, but Kane Williamson feels that the Indian has the ability to adapt his game for the longest format as well. 

“Clearly a strength of his is striking the ball which lends itself to white-ball cricket but I still think he has a very good technique as well,” Williamson said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

“So I don`t know if he will just take that one route. I`m sure he has aspirations to play Test cricket for India, which you know is often the ultimate achievement. I think he can adjust his game. It`s clean, it`s not brute. It`s picking the ball and playing it on merit,” he added.

“He has just got so many dimensions to his game, which comes with that little bit of maturity. He has always had the natural bat swing and the ball-striking [ability], that youthful exuberance. But to channel that and hit the ball to all areas, taking on the best bowlers in the world, so that takes courage as well,” he noted.

“Often when you come in as a young player, you might have the skillset, but there`s that curiosity, you know, are you good enough? Some of the questions that you have in the back of your mind when you`re exposed to a standard of cricket you haven`t necessarily played before. But now he has such clarity on the game plan and how he wants to approach his cricket,” he said.

“The high side is so high and he`s continuing to push the boundaries of his game, and I think for any player in the world, that`s what it`s about. It`s about trying to get better, and as you get a little bit older and you have a role that you`re happy with, then the experience comes into play, the decision-making comes into play, which we`re seeing now,” Williamson said.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will now lock horns with Lucknow Super Giants in their next IPL 2025 clash on March 27.

(With ANI Inputs)