Flamboyant India opener Abhishek Sharma had a difficult campaign so far in the T20 World Cup 2026. Playing with fever, he scored a golden duck in India’s opening game against the USA and was ruled out with a stomach infection in the second match against Namibia in Delhi. He returned to the field against Pakistan, but that resulted in a duck as well and even in the fourth match against Netherlands, Abhishek failed to open his tally.
With three consecutive ducks, questions have been raised about Abhishek’s form but India captain Suryakumar Yadav isn’t bothered. He reminded that the youngster is capable enough to win games for India all by himself, something he did quite frequently during the Asia Cup. Adding to that, Suryakumar stated that his return to form is just around the corner and once he gets going, it will be difficult for the opposition to stop the juggernaut.
“About Abhishek’s form, I worry for the people who are worried about Abhishek’s form, I worry about them. Why are they so worried about Abhishek’s form? But I think about those teams who are going to play against him. That he has not yet scored a run. You know the rest of the answers. When he scores a run, you have seen what happens. It happens, it’s a team sport, it keeps going on. Now the team has a requirement that the boy should play with his identity. So he is trying to play. If it happens, then it’s fine, if it doesn’t, then we are there to cover. Last year he covered for us, now we will cover for him,” Suryakumar said in the pre-match press conference.
South Africa’s plan against Abhishek
On matchday minus two, South Africa were spotted depending on spinners to tackle Abhishek. Notably, the India international has struggled against spinners in the ongoing tournament, as Salman Agha and Aryan Dutt got the better of him earlier in the tournament. The Proteas plan the same, as Aiden Markram and Keshav Maharaj spent a significant amount of time in the nets before the pacers came for their practice.
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