Former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir made fresh remarks on India opener Abhishek Sharma. He had earlier called him a slogger, but this time he has given the youngster some advice on how to bat, highlighting how international cricket has exposed him.
This comes after Abhishek Sharma broke his streak of ducks in the T20 World Cup 2026, scoring 18 runs for India against South Africa in their 76-run loss in the Super 8s game in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
In previous games, players like Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, and Suryakumar Yadav had been able to cope with the burden of Abhishek's shortcomings, but they found it difficult to counter South Africa's potent bowling attack.
Former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has now given Abhishek some advice and stated that the left-handed batter needs to play smarter and not attack blindly.
“You must have seen that he scored 14 runs on the same side. All three of the boundaries he hit were off bad balls. He does have potential. He kept the same intent even after three ducks. But, as a senior player, my message to him would be that international cricket will expose your technique. If he brings a little patience and hits the ball where it is, it would be better. He has the skills; how he wants to utilize them is up to him,” Amir said on the show Haarna Mana Hai.
Amir added that India is no longer as formidable while pursuing targets.
“India were exposed as they were chasing for the first time in this T20 World Cup. This isn't a team that has Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. They handled the match as the situation demanded,” he said.
Furthermore, he also stated that India erred in their selection by having three left-handers at the top.
“The biggest mistake India made was sending three left-handers at the top. Rinku doesn't even get time to play. You benched Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel against batters who struggle against spinners. No matter how big a team you are, you won't get results until you play the right combinations,” he asserted.
India will need to defeat Zimbabwe by a big margin if they want to stay alive on the road to the semi-finals. The two teams will meet on February 26 in Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.
