Ravi Shastri is not too worried about Abhishek Sharma’s current form who recorded three successive ducks in the T20 World Cup 2026. The former India head coach says the world No. 1 batter has saved his best for the crucial stage of the tournament.
India kick-off their Super Eight campaign on Sunday when they clash against the tournament favourites South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
“I look at it as a positive that Abhishek Sharma has got three zeros. So, save your best for the important periods in the tournament. Teams will be a little worried that he’s not got runs,” Shastri said on the ICC Review.
India made two changes to the team in their last group stage game against the Netherlands where they brought in Arshdeep Singh in place of Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar got some game time with Axar Patel being rested. Shastri feels on Sunday the decision would be who to play, Axar or Sundar. Moreover, he was of the opinion that the defending champions should opt for the same playing XI that featured in the last game.
“I think it will be pretty much the same side because you’ve got depth, you’ve got all bases covered, you’ve got options, you need options,” Shastri said.
“When there’s dew around, you need that extra bowling option. Whether it’s a Shivam Dube, whether it’s Hardik bowling his full quota of overs, whether it’s Tilak Varma who might roll his arm for an over or two, you need those options. I don’t think they’ll tinker with the side. I think the team that played in the last game was a good side,” he added.
The former India allrounder, however, cautioned India not to take South Africa as pushovers.
“There’s a lot of self-belief and you know it’s going to be a cracking contest because South Africa are no pushovers, they’ll compete for sure. And it’s a repeat of the World Cup final of 2024, so everyone’s looking forward to it,” Shastri said.
