3 min readFeb 27, 2026 05:12 PM IST
Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar praised Abhishek Sharma for silencing his critics with a timely half-century against Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup. He also said that he was surprised to see Abhishek Sharma play a defensive stroke.
“We know how good Abhishek Sharma is as a batter. He silenced his doubters with this knock of 55 runs against Zimbabwe,” Gavaskar told JioStar. “He took that extra time to start his innings. There was a method to his batting. He respected the off spinner, didn’t take any kind of risks and played in a calm and a composed manner. In this game, he actually played a defensive shot. He defended the ball. I was surprised to see that because we don’t usually see Abhishek do that,” Gavaskar added further.
After missing the second match against Namibia due to a stomach bug, Abhishek struggled in the next two games against Pakistan and Netherlands scoring consecutive ducks. In the game against South Africa, he played a slugging innings of 15 runs off 12 balls.
Indian opener Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for 15 off 12 vs South Africa. (PHOTO: AP)
However, on Thursday, Abhishek snapped the lean patch, scoring a 30-ball 55 in India’s 72-run win over Zimbabwe to signal a return to form.
Gavaskar said that it is important to take lessons from consecutive failures like this. “I really think this is a learning curve for him. Every cricketer goes through a rough patch of not scoring runs in back-to-back games. It is about how much you learn from it,” Gavaskar said.
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Need good plan for all-round WI
India’s next opponent is going to be West Indies, a team that has immense all-round capabilities.
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Gavaskar said that India needs to be careful about the all-round firepower of the Carribbean team in the virtual knockout on Sunday.
“(The) West Indies is a completely different challenge. They cannot be taken for granted. Their batters are in top form. Their bowlers are doing well. They punish opposition mistakes and strike at the right time,” Gavaskar said.
“India will need a good plan to handle the West Indies batting threat. Their batters start playing shots from ball one. They do not wait to see if the delivery needs respect. Their way of respecting the ball is by hitting it over the ropes.”
