Asia Cup 2025: Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma, the new Jai-Veeru of Indian cricket

A clean striker who loves going aerial in the ‘V’, Abhishek Sharma is the raging fire to Shubman Gill’s ice.

Dubai: Some 37 years ago, an impish baby-faced right-hander and a smart-alecky left-hander studiedly ignored the frantic exhortations of their furious school team coach, associating themselves in a 664-run alliance which, at the time, was the highest partnership in any form of cricket. Sachin Tendulkar, then 14, debuted for India a year and a half later; Vinod Kambli, the other half of that record stand, had to wait nearly two further years before joining his teenaged buddy in the national team, which led to his famous, ‘Sachin took the elevator, I took the stairs’ quote.

The diametrically opposite paths their careers took needs no detailed repetition. Tendulkar became the lord and master of all he surveyed, Kambli embarked on a journey of self-destruction which ended his international career at 28.

The story of two schoolboy friends batting alongside each other in a Test match was the stuff of legend. They were the Jai-Veeru of Indian cricket, reel-life Sholay playing out in real life.

There is a new Jai-Veeru in town – Shubman Gill, India’s Test captain, and his Punjab mate Abhishek Sharma, currently the No. 1 T20I batter in the world.

Gill and Abhishek’s friendship dates back to their Under-14 days. As teenagers, they enjoyed each other’s company, we are told. Clearly, they still do; like all long-standing relationships, there is effortless comfort and plenty of leg-pulling of the kind you’d expect from those in their mid-20s.

The organic blossoming of their kinship means Abhishek can, without lapsing into the formality of seeking permission, use Gill’s bat at nets when he feels his own willow isn’t doing his bidding.

The duo took its first steps towards extending the association of the junior days to the next level at the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in 2018, when Rahul Dravid was the coach.

Gill’s class immediately stood out. He finished with 372 runs in six matches, second only to West Indian Alick Athanaze’s 418.

Abhishek, batting lower down the order, had an unremarkable tournament – 78 runs from three visits to the crease, six wickets from 24.3 overs of left-arm spin – as Prithvi Shaw’s boys went all the way.

Less than a year after the eight-wicket defeat of Australia in the final, Gill donned India colours for the first time, in a One-Day International in Hamilton in January 2019.

Abhishek’s maiden game for the country did not come until July last year, coincidentally under his old pal who captained the nation for the first time on a Twenty20 International tour of Zimbabwe. Abhishek’s opening partner on debut was Gill; the circle was nearing completion.

Owing to his Test commitments, Gill did not play a T20I for more than 13 months, between the end of July last year and earlier this week. Abhishek used that time to establish himself as a near-indispensable member of the 20-over outfit, relegating even Yashasvi Jaiswal to the sidelines.

In 12 matches when Gill was away, he amassed 411 runs, among them a spectacular 135 studded with 13 sixes against England in Mumbai in February. In 17 T20I innings, Abhishek has smacked 44 sixes, ensuring that Gill doesn’t miss his old ODI opening mate, Rohit Sharma.

A clean striker who loves going aerial in the ‘V’, Abhishek is the raging fire to Gill’s ice. In their international reunion at the top of the tree, they whetted the appetite with 48 exhilarating runs in the hammering of UAE on Wednesday, with the promise of more to come.

Gill might have taken the elevator and Abhishek the stairs, ala Kambli, but hey, they both have gotten to the top, haven’t they?