Mandeep Singh sheds light on Abhishek Sharma's rise to prominence in T20 cricket [CricTracker Exclusive]

Mandeep Singh shone at a very young age, as he represented Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the Indian Premier League. His breakout season came in 2012, as he smashed over 400 runs batting at the top for the franchise. While he grabbed limelight in the league as a youngster himself, it is the current lot that excites the Punjab batter a lot in the lucrative tournament.

Mandeep revealed more about them during an exclusive interaction with CricTracker. He is particularly impressed with opening batters like Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma, both of whom have taken T20 batting to a whole new level.

"There are so many youngsters who have come in. For example, Abhishek Sharma in T20 or Jaiswal in white ball cricket. I mean, honestly, all of them are very good. Vaibhav Suryavanshi has come in. He's batting so well at such a young age in IPL. Then, I'm very happy to see Abhishek Sharma's consistency. Because he was talented from the start. But, he'll make runs so consistently, and he'll make runs so quickly. He's so good in Indian cricket. He'll make runs so consistently. Tilak Varma, I think, his overall gain is very impressive" Mandeep told CricTracker.

Amongst bowlers, he is a huge fan of left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who has now become the highest wicket-taker for India in T20I. Mandeep believes that Arshdeep uses his skills to excellent effect, as he turns up for the team under extreme pressure situations, and delivers his balls to perfection.

"Arshdeep is very close to me. People might think that I'm taking his name because of that. But, I feel, Arshdeep has his own quality. You won't see him at 150 kph speed. But, he has a unique quality. Sometimes, we look for talent only in skills. But, I don't know whether to call it. In a pressure situation, he executes the thing that you had planned. That's a very strong quality. Top international level players have that quality, and he has that in him," he said.

Mandeep also revealed that he is an absolutely huge admirer of Chhattisgarh all-rounder Shashank Singh, who rose to prominence at a very late age. Shashank had a breakthrough season in IPL 2024, where he was snapped by PBKS for just INR 20 lakh, but delivered remarkable performances. He was made the vice-captain in 2025, and was once again brilliant, as PBKS made it to the finals in their campaign.

I'm a big fan of Shashank Singh. That's because, if you see, for 32–33 years, I don't think anyone would be talking about him. But, his name has just started being talked about. And, I feel, what a great player he is. Especially, the place where he bats. You don't get many Indian batters who bat so well in middle or lower order. Especially, at this age. Otherwise, these days, when you're 32–33 years old, you start watching something else. I admire him a lot. At this age, he waited for so many years. And now, it's time for him to shine and he's showing it. I'm very happy for him," Mandeep told of Shashank.