Sunil Gavaskar's 'Unsolicited Advice' To Abhishek Sharma After Two Ducks In Two Games
India have already played three matches at the T20 World Cup, but the fireworks from Abhishek Sharma's bat are yet to arrive
- Abhishek Sharma played three matches at the T20 World Cup, scoring two ducks
- He missed one match due to illness and was dismissed early in others against USA and Pakistan
- Sunil Gavaskar advised Sharma to take a single first to build confidence before attacking
India have already played three matches at the T20 World Cup, but the fireworks from Abhishek Sharma's bat are yet to arrive. He missed one of those matches due to illness, while the dashing opener was dismissed for 0 twice - against the USA and Pakistan. Those performances make one wonder whether Abhishek's live-and-die-by-the-sword style of play has actually pegged him back. Over the last year and a half, Abhishek has been one of the most exciting T20I talents to emerge in world cricket, and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has one simple piece of advice for him to end the drought - take the first single.
"My unsolicited advice to Abhishek Sharma is: just knock a single first. That's it. Then you can start banging after that. But just knock a single, take a quick single where your legs move quickly, and then go on," he said in an exclusive interview with Sports Today.
"It is the confidence that one has in oneself. He got a hundred against New Zealand. He is in form and in good touch, and he is cashing in on that. What is important is that he is not taking good form for granted. A lot of batters do that and look to go bang-bang. You can go out of your territory once you are set, and that is exactly what we have seen from him," Gavaskar added.
Abhishek had a tally of 314 runs in seven games at the Asia Cup 2025. This time, however, teams have come well prepared to negate the threat posed by him. He was caught at deep cover against the USA off medium pacer Shadley van Schalkwyk before being dismissed at mid-on against Pakistan off Salman Ali Agha.
Even in the Pakistan game, Agha had a relatively straight deep cover in place. Ahead of the Netherlands match, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said there is no need to stress over Abhishek's form.
"Obviously we plan, but he wasn't well and didn't play (against Namibia). In the last game he got out in the first over. One thing we definitely do unnecessarily is overanalyse; sometimes you start making more assumptions than the opposition do.
"He has his plans sorted, he follows the way he wants to, and obviously we discuss the opposition, their bowling, their strengths, what they've been doing - all that is normal for everyone, not just Abhishek," said Kotak.
Kotak backed Abhishek's high-risk, high-reward game. "Abhishek, before he fell ill, made runs in matches. In the T20 format also, sometimes 10 balls 30 is just as important. It's not like he hasn't scored runs. The T20 format is high risk - someone will get out. If we stress too much, players will be under pressure. He is in good form, has clear plans and a clear mindset - that's what matters for us."
India Cricket Team
Sunil Gavaskar