Abhishek Sharma was the cynosure of all eyes coming into the T20 World cup 2026 but it has been a nightmarish campaign for the talented left-hander hitherto. He has played three matches in the marquee event so far and hasn’t been able to open his account in either of the games, registering three ducks. The opener drilled a loft off Ali Khan to deep cover, mistimed a pull off Salman Agha to mid on, and missed a jab to the leg side against Aryan Dutt to get cleaned up.
“He batted really well last night in the nets, he spent 90 minutes batting,” assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said after India’s 17-run win over Netherlands on Wednesday. “You also have to give him a bit of space. He came into the group phase not feeling too well, he spent a few days in the hospital and missed the game against Namibia. It’s been a very disappointing tournament for him so far. But I saw some really good signs with his ball striking last night. So no worries about him, he’ll be fine when the second phase comes.”
Doeschate is, however, pleased that others are stepping up to the plate. ”The team’s record speaks for itself. There’s always this one guy who gets us out of the powerplay even if we are two or three down. We still manage to come out of the powerplay pretty strong,” he added.
Seeing his struggles, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has put out a word of advice for the dasher. “With his shot range, he needs to spend time in the middle. He cannot try to hit a boundary or six on the first ball of his innings. If the big shots come, fine. But he shouldn’t force himself to play the big shots across the line,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
“Take a single and get off the mark. Even four dot balls don’t matter. He can make up for them later. He needs to play smart at the start. Spend an over or two settling in, then play his natural game. First, just get off the mark. Every batter wants that first run. Once he gets it, everything will fall into place.”