Heading into the T20 World Cup 2026, Abhishek Sharma was expected to be India's destroyer-in-chief. However, the left-handed opener failed to live up to the hype, bagging three consecutive ducks in the group-stage of the tournament.

While Abhishek missed India’s Group A clash against Namibia due to stomach infection and fever, he couldn’t trouble scorers in the matches against USA, Pakistan and Netherlands.

After his recent failure, former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir compared Abhishek Sharma to Pakistani batter Saim Ayub.

Amir, who has previously called Sharma a ‘slogger’, highlighted the No. 1-ranked T20I batter’s weaknesses after he completed a hat-trick of ducks.

“I will compare Abhishek to Saim (Ayub). When Saim came to PSL, he was playing no-look shots. Nobody knew which area was his weaker side. He was collecting runs on the leg side. But now with time, when the ball comes on the fourth or fifth stump, he is not able to decide what to do. He has edged behind the wicket twice in this T20 World Cup,” Amir said on Haarna Mana Hain show.

Amir went on to claim that both Saim and Abhishek need to work on their all-round game to sustain in international cricket.

“As long as he doesn’t work hard on the off…international bowlers will not bowl in your strong zone. They will take you out of your comfort zone. As an opener, you need to know how to play in all directions,” Amir added.

“Salman Ali Agha also got Abhishek out by keeping the ball onto his body. Against the Netherlands, the same happened. He is not getting the balls in the slot,” he remarked.

Here’s the video:

These struggles have now resulted in Abhishek registering five ducks in his last seven T20I innings, including two during the home series against New Zealand before the World Cup.

Abhishek Sharma will be keen to turn things around during India’s opening Super 8 fixture against South Africa, scheduled for February 22 in Ahmedabad.