Abhishek Sharma’s struggle with the bat is far from over as he scored 10 off 11 balls in the must-win Super Eight match against West Indies on Sunday. India are through to the semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2026 but the opener’s form remains a concern.
Chasing West Indies’ target of 196, India lost two early wickets in the form of Abhishek and Ishan Kishan. But Sanju Samson played a dream knock of an unbeaten 97 to take India home. After getting out to three successive ducks, Abhishek bounced back to form by scoring a fifty in the previous Super Eight match.
Abhishek has scored 80 runs in six matches at an average of 13.33 and a strike-rate of 131.14. In yesterday’s high-pressure game, Abhishek also had a poor outing as a fielder where he dropped two catches. Former India captain Anil Kumble said the opener’s head seems to be a bit muddled at the moment.
“The head is a bit muddled. There is lack of confidence. You want others to take the pressure off and India have done well. Now that India have won, he’ll say, I need to start contributing. England will pose a different challenge. They also have Jacks. I don’t see Harry Brook holding back Jacks. He has bowled in the powerplay, so he bowls well,” Kumble was quoted saying on an ESPNCricinfo show.
Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said India will continue playing Abhishek for now. He expects the team management to give him a long rope to turn things around in the semifinal.
“The nice thing is that they won. When you are winning, the guy that is out of form gets carried by the team. If you lose, there is finger-pointing. A guy needs to take the brunt of the loss. So, if India would have lost tonight, there would have been a lot of finger-pointing at him. So now there is a hopeful outlook – can he do it in the semifinals or can he turn it around?” du Plessis said on the same show.
India will take on England in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2026 on March 5 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
