Abhishek Sharma has failed to live up to the expectations so far.
Heading into the T20 World Cup 2026, Abhishek Sharma was expected to be India's destroyer-in-chief. However, the southpaw failed to live up to the hype so far.
While Abhishek failed to open his account in the Group A fixtures against USA, Pakistan and Netherlands, he managed to score 15 off 12 balls in the Super 8 opener against South Africa.
The swashbuckling left-hander showed a glimpse of his brilliance when he made 55 off 30 balls versus Zimbabwe, but registered another low score (10 off 11) in India’s do-or-die Super 8 clash against the West Indies.
Despite a lean run, former cricketers Ravi Shastri and Ricky Ponting have thrown their weight behind Abhishek Sharma as the showpiece event heads into the knockout stage.
The defending champions are due to face England in the second semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday (March 5).
Ahead of the marquee clash, Shastri stressed that any decision regarding Sharma’s place in the semifinal against England must be based on his mental space.
"Unless the team management realises that, mentally he's not there. If mentally, his mindset has taken a beating, it's for them to judge from the outside, in conversations with him, just seeing the way he's batting in the nets," the former India head coach said while speaking on The ICC Review.
"If that's the case, then and only then will I think of putting Ishan Kishan up the order and then probably Rinku Singh bringing him, at the bottom. That could be the only change, but I would still persist with him because last time India played England, he had a terrific series against them," he added.
When India faced England in a T20I match at the Wankhede Stadium last time, Abhishek Sharma blasted 135 off 54 balls to script his team’s crushing 150-run victory.
"I won't take that away at the Wankhede,” Shastri said. “He's done well in the past. He's got some big hundreds there and very quick hundreds. I'll persist with him because there's enough firepower in that batting."
Ponting echoed similar sentiments and stated that the batter’s attacking instinct should be trusted.
"He's obviously not made the runs that any of us expected,” Ponting said. “I had him down as the leading run scorer and possibly the player of the tournament going back about a month ago. That hasn't happened yet, but I would agree with Ravi. I would stick with him."
The former Australian captain emphasized the impact Abhishek can make when he gets going, while also highlighting India’s enviable depth, in case he doesn’t.
"We know on his day, he's an out-and-out match-winner,” Ponting remarked. “But that's the hard thing with this Indian side as well. And if you were to leave him out and you bring Rinku in, then you've got another match-winner coming into your side as well.
"I like the look of their top order the other day, the way that it was left-hand, right-hand openers, Kishan in at number three, who's a very dangerous player in himself. I'd be keeping a really close eye on the way Abhishek's going about his training."
Ponting believes a mental refreshment could unlock something special for struggling Abhishek.
“Sometimes, when you're going through a bit of a slump like that, it's not always best just to go into the nets every day and bat for an hour and a half.
“Sometimes it's better off to let these guys just have a couple of days away, like mentally freshen up. The skills don't go anywhere. You don't lose your skills,” Ponting said.
"But in a tournament like this, when you're consistently and constantly under pressure and the results aren't coming, sometimes just leaving your bag zipped up, turning up the training, getting a little bit of bowling done, getting your fielding done, but not actually batting and almost starving yourself of going back into the nets.
“I think Abhishek's got something up his sleeve for the semi-final," he concluded.
(With ICC Inputs)