Will India Drop Abhishek Sharma For Super 8 Match Against South Africa? Morne Morkel Gives Big Update

India vs South Africa, ICC T20 World Cup 2026: India's star opener Abhishek Sharma has had a horrible outing in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 so far. In his maiden T20 WC, Abhishek is yet to open his account, but will be looking to make it count in the upcoming matches. While India have successfully made it to the Super 8s, three ducks in as many innings have put Abhishek under the spotlight.

India are yet to suffer a defeat in the tournament, having beaten the USA, Namibia, Pakistan and the Netherlands. Despite heavy criticism, the Indian team management looks in no mood to get away from Abhishek. Instead, the 25-year-old is expected to get a long rope as the coaches believe his best is yet to come.

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India will kick off their Super 8 campaign with the match against South Africa in Ahmedabad on Sunday, February 22. Addressing a press conference on Friday, Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel dismissed any talk of dropping Abhishek Sharma from India's upcoming games. "Absolutely no discussion in our team group about that. He is a world-class player. So far in the tournament, luckily, we’ve had other guys standing up with Abhishek not scoring the runs you would like," Morkel told the media.

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"We’re going through a very important phase of the World Cup now, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to deliver. Not just for the team, but also for all the viewers watching the game, because he’s entertaining and we love to see that. He’s hitting the ball well in the nets. It’s just a matter of getting that start and getting his innings going," Morkel added.

Abhishek headed into the tournament with an outstanding reputation of an attacking opener and heavy expectations considering the way he has performed over the past few months. After a disappointing effort in the first game against the USA, Abhishek fell ill and missed the match against Namibia due to a stomach infection. He was even hospitalised, but recovered in time for the much-awaited clash against Pakistan. Meanwhile, he ended up scoring 0s against the Men in Green as well as against the Netherlands.

India vs South Africa Squads, ICC T20 World Cup 2026:

India Squad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel

South Africa Squad: Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Jason Smith, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi