Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has wondered what Abhishek Sharma is thinking amid the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. In the match against the Netherlands, Abhishek was dismissed for a three-ball duck, his third consecutive blob of the tournament.
Abhishek was dismissed for a golden duck against the USA and then also bagged another duck against Pakistan. Chopra noted why the Indian opener was wearing other players – Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj – t-shirts against the Netherlands.
“Abhishek Sharma, you and I are thinking about him. He has played three games and hasn’t yet opened his account. He got out in the deep at the Wankhede Stadium. He got out on the first ball. When he went to Colombo, it took four balls, and then he got out almost identically in Ahmedabad,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“There was another issue. He was first wearing Arshdeep’s T-shirt. He then changed that T-shirt and wore Siraj’s T-shirt, and I am thinking, what is Abhishek thinking? Why is Abhishek not wearing his T-shirt? Is there something that’s going on in his head? Nothing will happen with the number on the T-shirt,” he added.
The former Delhi cricketer said he is not surprised that Abhishek was dismissed caught at deep cover against the Americans.
“I am not surprised at all with the way he got out at deep cover. If you get the ball there again, you will try to hit it there again because you score runs there. No one hits shots better than him there. He has improved that game a lot,” he said.
Further analysing Abhishek’s dismissals against Pakistan and the Netherlands, Chopra noted that how the left-hander doesn’t have the confidence to make room and hit over the covers against the off-spinners.
“However, the way he got out to Salman Ali Agha’s ball or Aryan Dutt’s ball, both were bowling off-spin and around the stumps, and were trying to finish the ball within the stumps. He actually makes room for himself, plays with the straight bat, and hits it over cover,” Chopra observed.
“However, he is probably not getting that confidence currently. You didn’t pick the length and went to hit cross-batted, and it was almost identical both times. It hit the bat’s sticker once, he missed the line once, and the ball went and hit the leg stump,” he added.
India will take on South Africa in their opening game of the Super 8 stage at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Sunday.
