India, Dec. 30 -- Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lauded Abhishek Sharma, calling him a key part of India's next-generation talent and a potential X-factor for the team. Abhishek enjoyed a stellar 2025 with the bat in T20Is, delivering consistent match-winning performances that propelled him to the top of the ICC's T20I rankings. The swashbuckling batter smashed 859 runs in 21 matches at an astonishing strike rate of 193.46, which included a century and five half-centuries.

Ashwin lavished praise on Abhishek, underlining the young opener's growing influence in India's T20 setup this year. Pointing to his fearless batting and consistency at the top, Ashwin described him as a next-generation X-factor and backed him to make a smoo...