Abhishek Sharma’s woeful form in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 finally came to an end as he slammed a very good half-century for India against Zimbabwe. This knock came in the ongoing Super 8s game at the Chepauk in Chennai on February 26, 2026.
Sikandar Raza won the toss and chose to field first. India brought in Sanju Samson for Rinku Singh and Axar Patel for Washington Sundar. Samson gave an electrifying start to India with 24 in 15 balls with one four and 2 sixes, adding 48 runs in 3.2 overs with Abhishek Sharma.
Sharma looked confident and calm in his knock, preferring singles and doubles when his big shots were working. Abhishek held one end as he added 72 runs with Ishan Kishan (38) for the second wicket.
Abhishek opened up well, hitting 4 fours and 4 sixes in his 30-ball 55, hitting his maiden T20 World Cup fifty, before being dismissed by Tinotenda Maposa.
India went on to hit 256/4, with Suryakumar Yadav hitting 33 in 13 balls, Tilak Varma smashing 44* in 16 balls with 3 sixes and 4 fours, and Hardik Pandya recording a 50* in 23 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes.
It was a relief innings for Abhishek, who had scored 3 ducks in the three games he had played in the group stage and managed just 15 runs in India’s big loss to South Africa in Ahmedabad.
When asked about how it felt to get back into form, Abhishek, at the mid-innings break, said, “It’s always great, you know, when you contribute to the team. And I have been waiting for this moment for quite a long time now, so finally it’s happening. I’m really happy."
Abhishek was also not worried by it being one of his slowest fifties in T20Is, but revealed that it was not exactly what he wanted to do.
"I would say it wasn’t that intentional, but I just wanted to, you know, spend some time at the pitch because, if you see, I haven’t even played 10-12 balls in the whole tournament yet. So, I just wanted to spend some time and give a special mention to the team for the way they’ve treated me so far. It was like at the end, you wouldn’t feel that I wasn’t scoring runs for the team," he said.
“And I mean, in the practice sessions as well, in the hotels as well, they all were just waiting for this moment, and they all were just, you know, reminding me that, you know, you have done this before as well, and your time is not so far. You just keep believing. So that’s happened," Abhishek added.
Abhishek was also asked about the hitting done by Indian batters in the death overs and if it felt like a video game.
“Of course, I mean, the way they have finished the innings, I feel the intent is back, the way they wanted, the way we have played the whole year. I mean, that was the plan we decided yesterday, as well as a batting unit: if we feel that we have faced enough balls or maybe we have seen enough balls, just go out and express yourself. I mean, it wasn’t, you know, going so far that well, but you know, that was the plan we had yesterday and the day before as well at the practice sessions. As a batter, as a batting unit, we have to go and express ourselves. That’s how we were playing the whole year, and that’s how we’re going to back each other,” Abhishek stated.
