The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 has been no less than a nightmare so far for Team India’s opening batsman Abhishek Sharma. Abhishek has been out on duck in three consecutive matches. Not scoring runs from his bat is not that much of a worry. The biggest question is about Abhishek’s mindset. He is going to attack even on slow pitches from the first over and is losing his wickets, due to which the pressure on the team is increasing.
There was no strong team in front of the Indian team in the group stage. Due to this, there was no impact on the results but now there is no margin for error in Super-8. Team India is going to face South Africa in Ahmedabad on Sunday (22 February). This match will be the real test of the Indian team. If the team management plays Abhishek, then the same problem will arise again which was seen in the group stage. The South African team can use off-spinners in the attack, which will increase the problems of other batsmen as well.
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How right is it to drop Abhishek?
25-year-old Abhishek has been a strong pillar of Team India in this format since his debut in T20 International in July 2024. He is also the number-1 batsman in ICC T20 rankings. In such a situation, it is not easy to drop them. But for some tactical reasons it may be beneficial to keep them out. Currently, there are 6 left-handed batsmen in the top-8 of Team India. In view of this, opposition teams are attacking with more off-spinners. To solve this problem, the Indian team can play Sanju Samson in place of Abhishek.
Right-handed batsman Sanju has played only one match in this tournament, in which he scored 22 runs in 8 balls. By playing Sanju, Team India will get a combination of right and left handed batsman in the top order, which will be important to counter the off spinner. If only Abhishek is played then it is certain that South African captain Aiden Markram will bowl the first over during India’s batting. Instead of handing the ball to Kagiso Rabada or Lungi Ngidi, Markram himself will be seen bowling off-breaks.
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India’s probable playing XI: Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Varun Chakraborty, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.
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