Former Indian cricketers Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri rallied behind out-of-form Abhishek Sharma ahead of the all-important T20 World Cup 2026 final on Sunday against New Zealand in Ahmedabad. The left-hander Indian opener has been in headlines for all wrong reasons, with scores of 0, 0, 0, 15, 55, 10 and 9 in seven matches so far in the tournament.
Abhishek’s only half-century came against lowly-ranked Zimbabwe in the Super 8 stage and is being looked up as a potential weakness for the defending champions if they persist with the 25-year-old in the final.
Amid calls for replacing Abhishek with Rinku Singh, Shastri backed the youngster, stating that he has saved the best for the final. “I think they’ve just got to stick with him now,” Shastri told on ICC Review. “Don’t make any changes as the side’s having a good run.
“Stick with that and just tell him believe in your ability, believe in your strengths and back your strengths, don’t go into a shell where you’re tentative or you’re timid. We back you, you back your strengths and go out there and play. The last game might be the best game for you,” Shastri said.
Kapil Dev echoes Ravi Shastri
Not just Shastri, 1983 World Cup-winning former Indian captain Dev also echoed his ex-teammate. The 67-year-old reiterated that the Indian team management should retain Abhishek in the playing XI despite his failure to get going in the high-profile tournament so far.
“Just believe in your team and the management should believe in the player. And Abhishek should believe in himself that ‘I can perform and I will perform’. Still one game is there – the final,” Kapil said on Friday.
In this tournament, Abhishek has been poor against off-spin, scoring just 29 runs in 27 balls at an average of 9.66, and being dismissed thrice in five innings against offies and has a strike rate of just 107.40 against them. In seven matches in this tournament, Abhishek has scored just 89 runs at an average of 12.71 and a strike rate of 130.88.
Meanwhile, the Indian team reached Ahmedabad for the big clash on Friday after beating England by seven runs in a thrilling semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. New Zealand, who defeated South Africa in the first semifinal, had arrived in Ahmedabad a day earlier.
