- By Namrata Vijay
- Thu, 26 Feb 2026 05:28 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND vs ZIM T20 World Cup Super 8s: Whenever a cricketer is under immense pressure, funny things can happen to him. And India's star opener Abhishek Sharma knows this the best as he has been going through a lean patch in the ongoing mega event. Abhishek, who is the world's No. 1 T20I batter, entered this mega event on the back of some sublime form and has scored just 15 runs till now. After playing for four innings, he has been out on a duck three times.
Everyone is aware of that, isn't it?
But the real question the fans are asking is-what has gone wrong with Abhishek Sharma?
The star opener, who can smash fours consistently, has been struggling against spinners and fast bowlers during the last four matches. He showed signs of his old self during the Super 8s match against South Africa, batting cautiously, but it soon faded as he couldn't face Marco Jansen's off-cutter knuckleball and mistimed the shot.
WHAT'S GONE WRONG WITH ABHISHEK SHARMA?
To analyse what has gone wrong with him, one needs to look at the buildup to this mega event. During India's last white-ball series before this tournament, Abhishek was lauded for his brilliant run-scoring ability.
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During an interaction with Sunil Gavaskar and Abhinav Mukund, he revealed that he had picked net bowlers who were quite similar to the opponents he would play against, and that this technique had helped him prepare for matches.
Abhishek admitted that he was aware of what the bowlers would try against him during the mega event and that he was prepared for those strategies.
He was spot on when he predicted that the opponents would either send in fast bowlers or spinners to pile early pressure on him.
But all this preparation has now gone in vain as he is seen struggling.
He couldn't focus as much as he wanted to ahead of the match against the USA as he was suffering from a sudden bout of illness. He had played that match with a 103-degree fever. He also struggled to locate the ball clearly, and the fielder took his catch on the first ball.
And if that wasn't enough, his health worsened before India's match against Namibia in Delhi, and he was rushed to a hospital owing to food poisoning.
Post missing the match against Namibia, Abhishek was included in India's playing XI for the high-octane clash against arch-rival Pakistan. Pressure got the better of him, and he got out on a duck yet again.
After that, ex-Bengal cricketer Sreewats Goswami had opined that the problem was with his head.
"He is overthinking it. Everything comes from your mind. If your mind is not at peace, then your body will not be," Shreevats Goswami was quoted as saying to India Today.
Goswami, who is currently doing commentary for Star Sports for the mega event, has revealed that Abhishek has put himself under immense pressure and is going by the notion that the team wants him to smash a fifty or a hundred every time he enters the field.
And there might be some truth to that expectation.
He was one of the main reasons the team grew in this format. He had smashed two centuries and two half-centuries before this mega event, which helped him achieve the No.1 T20I rankings.
"He needs to stop thinking about his reputation and think about the team. Think about giving a good start instead of thinking about a fifty or a hundred, because that is very far away now. When you score 20-30 runs, then go ballistic," Goswami added.
Does he have a technical problem? Goswami doesn't think so, and the Indian team management agrees with him. Both skipper Suryakumar Yadav and India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak have revealed that Abhishek has been practising well during training sessions.
They aren't wrong. Although he hasn't really been perfect in training sessions, whenever he has connected, he has smashed huge sixes.
But Kotak, during a press conference, said he would try not to talk about Abhishek much, but consistently discussing a struggling batter would only put more pressure on him.