Asia Cup: Sharma and Gill, the fire and the ice, back together at the top

When Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma walked out together to chase down a paltry target of 58 against hosts UAE on 10 September, Wednesday, the Asia Cup match had already turned into a no-contest. However, the takeaway for the Indian fans was the rekindling of a bromance between the two Punjab da puttar — who have grown up and played their cricket together since they were 14 years old.

A sizzling 48-run stand between them, and the job was done for the evening — but it possibly marked the beginning of an opening partnership that will see India begin their title defence in the T20 World Cup early in 2026 too.

They have opened together in Zimbabwe last year too, of course, where Gill was leading a second-string T20 team, but this is a new version of him in the pecking order of power in Indian cricket after their England tour.

“With the bat, they are like ice and fire. They understand each other’s game so well and I am not surprised at the level they have reached,’’ said Arun Bedi, a former Punjab cricketer who had been their coach since the age-group days.

No prizes for guessing that Gill is the ‘ice’, with his calmness in the middle and gift of timing, while Sharma is the diametrically opposite ‘fire’, kicking up a storm in the powerplays of this format since 2024 — both for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Indian team.

Comparisons are odious, but the career graph of the two best of friends reminds one of the analogy that Vinod Kambli had once drawn between himself and Sachin Tendulkar. The former felt that while his friend had taken the lift, he had had to take the stairs in his career — relatable to Gill’s instant recognition as the crown prince of Indian cricket ever since India’s U-19 World Cup triumph in 2018, while Sharma has had to bide time for a break in the initial years.

A left-hander who relied on brute power and the aerial route and also a handy left-arm spinner, Sharma was roped in by the Sunrisers as an U-19 player. Gill, likewise, went to the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, Sharma wasn’t an instant success in the IPL while he was tried out as a middle-order batter, occasional finisher and part-time spinner.

The lockdown phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, proved to be a gamechanger for both Sharma and Gill, as Yuvraj Singh — a big brother and mentor rolled into one for the duo — took them under his wing at his Chandigarh home. A cavalier with the bat during his own playing days, ‘Yuvi’ subjected these two gifted but callow youngsters to a regime which reminded one of his father Yograj’s military discipline for him.  

It meant no phones at night, no parties and regimented sleep schedules.  Yuvraj made Sharma train on marble slabs where the ball would skid, asked the curator in Mullanpur to prepare rank turners to force Sharma to sharpen his bat speed and footwork. It was bootcamp-style training — and it unlocked something within Sharma, who realised he had some catching up to do with his friend.

Sharma emerged physically stronger, and fearless — indeed, crucially, unafraid of losing his wicket and ready for the pursuit of some risk-taking. Shades of this transformation were visible as far back as 2022, when he was the Sunrisers’ leading run-getter, with 320 runs at a strike rate of 133.12. However, 2023 brought a new set of challenges —  Sharma soon found himself shunted up and down the order under Brian Lara’s coaching.

The change in leadership for the franchise in 2024 was a turning point for him. Daniel Vettori and Pat Cummins came in as the new coach and captain, respectively, and restored Sharma to the top of the order, alongside Travis Head. The returns have been spectacular — Abhishek Sharma has piled up 923 runs, at a strike rate of 198.92, in the last two editions of IPL. And the duo have put the fear of God into their rival bowlers.

No wonder, then, that Sharma – now the world No.1 T20 batter — has finally carved out a niche for himself in the national T20I team, with Gill to provide the security and anchor at the other end.

The ongoing Asia Cup, then, is the perfect opportunity for them to stake a claim for the opening pair’s job in the World T20 next year!