Abhishek Sharma missed the Group A match against Namibia on Thursday.
Despite being unwell on the day of India’s campaign opener against the USA in Mumbai, Abhishek showed immense courage and chose to play the game. However, he bagged a golden duck and didn’t come to field during the second innings.
After landing in Delhi, the southpaw’s health deteriorated and he had to be hospitalized. The stomach bug reportedly led to Sharma losing a significant amount of weight due to dehydration in a short period.
Speaking at the toss for Namibia game, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav said that Abhishek is “still not fine and will miss a game or two.”
However, after the match, mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy sounded confident of Abhishek Sharma’s participation in the next high-profile group-stage fixture against Pakistan, scheduled for February 15 in Colombo.
"I think he will play the next match," Varun quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. "I don't know. As far as I have spoken to him, he looks good. He did some practice today. He said he is on the way."
In Abhishek's absence, Sanju Samson was given a chance to open alongside Ishan Kishan but failed to convert his 8-ball 22 into a big score. Kishan, on the other end, slammed 24-ball 61 to set the platform for a huge total.
Hardik Pandya then hit a blistering 28-ball 52 and added 81 runs for the fifth wicket with Shivam Dube (23) to take the team past 200. India then lost four wickets for 1 run before finishing on 209/9 in 20 overs.
In reply, Namibia’s innings folded for 116 in 18.2 overs, with Varun Chakaravarthy (3-7), Hardik (2-21) and Axar Patel (2-20) doing the bulk of the game. Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Dube returned with one scalp each.