"I'm glad that I did not bowl in this era" - Pakistan legend meets Abhishek Sharma in Dubai before IND vs PAK 2025 Champions Trophy match

Legendary Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar showered praise on young Indian batter Abhishek Sharma ahead of the India vs Pakistan match in the 2025 Champions Trophy. While Sharma is not a part of the Indian squad, he is in Dubai right now, where he caught up with Akhtar.

The Pakistan legend shot a small clip with the Indian youngster and put it up on his X profile. In the video, Akhtar claimed that he was lucky he did not have to bowl to destructive batters like Abhishek Sharma in the modern era of cricket.

Here's what Akhtar said in the video shared on X:

"I'm glad that I did not bowl in this era reason being people like this young lad (points to Abhishek). He got a hundred, and I watched your innings. It was fantastic, amazing, and I gave him an advice, 'Don't leave your strength.'

"Just ran into an exceptional talent Abhishek Sharma here in Dubai. He'll do wonders in years to come," Akhtar captioned the video.

The Pakistan legend concluded by saying that he wished Abhishek the best of luck in the years to come and said he expected the Indian batter to rule the cricket world.

Abhishek Sharma recently registered the highest individual score by an Indian in T20Is

The century that Shoaib Akhtar mentioned in his video came on February 2 in a T20I match between India and England at the Wankhede Stadium.

Opening the innings for India, Abhishek played a spectacular knock of 135 runs off just 54 balls. Later in the match, he also took two wickets to help India beat England by 150 runs.

Abhishek's magnificent batting helped him set a new record for the highest individual score by an Indian in T20I cricket history. The southpaw seems to be in Dubai to cheer on the Indian ODI team in their upcoming match against Pakistan.

​