For the fourth match in a row, an Indian opener was dismissed for a duck at the T20 World Cup 2026. And no, it wasn’t Abhishek Sharma. Once Ishan Kishan perished for nought in the first over, bowled by South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram, all eyes turned to Abhishek. The 26-year-old, who hadn’t scored a run in the entire tournament, was crucial to rebuilding India’s innings. He started well, smashing the first ball for a boundary, and later, upper-cutting Kagiso Rabada for a six; however, it failed to mask his overall struggle at the crease, and Abhishek was finally put out of his misery by Marco Jansen. After Tilak Varma failed for 1, Abhishek’s wicket reduced India to 26/3, a position from where they failed to recover and eventually slumped to a 76-run defeat in chase of 188.
As India suffered a huge setback following the defeat, with their net run rate plummeting to a woeful -3.8, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar offered a piece of advice to the struggling Abhishek. The former India captain feels the batter needs to give himself time and curb his instincts of going after the bowling from the word go. It’s an approach that has brought Abhishek ample success, made him the world’s No. 1-ranked T20I batter, but for some reason isn’t working anymore. Hence, Gavaskar suggested that Abhishek course-correct, as sticking to the same ploy would do him more harm than good.
Gavaskar’s blunt advice
“With his shot range, he needs to spend time in the middle. He cannot try to hit a boundary or a six on the first ball of his innings. If the big shots come, fine. But he shouldn’t force himself to play the big shot across the line. Take a single and get off the mark. Even four dot balls don’t matter. He can make up for them later,” Gavaskar said after the match.
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Abhishek recorded ducks in the three games he played earlier, against the USA, Pakistan and the Netherlands. He missed the game against Namibia due to a stomach bug, but his return to the XI hardly made a difference as he was sent packing by captain Salman Agha. Abhishek’s dip in form is surprising, as he was the leading scorer in the Asia Cup, pummeling 302 runs for India as the Men in Blue lifted the trophy for a record-extending ninth time.
Five ducks in last nine innings
More recently, Abhishek endured a mixed T20I series against New Zealand, lighting up the opener with a knock of 84 in Nagpur, 68 not out in the third game at Guwahati, and 30 in the fifth match at Thiruvananthapuram. However, in between, he scored ducks at Raipur and Vizag. Abhishek has now registered five ducks in his last nine innings for India.
India have Sanju Samson waiting in the 15, but it’s unlikely that either Suryakumar Yadav or Gautam Gambhir will drop the ball on Abhishek. India’s next Super 8 game is against Zimbabwe on Thursday at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium, followed by the game against the West Indies on Sunday, March 1, at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. For India to avoid having their semi-final fate decided by other teams’ results, they must beat Zimbabwe and West Indies by convincing margins and hope South Africa defeats both sides as well.
