Suryakumar Yadav, Gautam Gambhir Sent 'Abhishek Sharma' Warning For T20 World Cup Final: "Tough Call"
Mohammad Kaif believes that the Indian cricket team will have to take a tough call on star batter Abhishek Sharma when it comes to the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Mohammad Kaif believes that the Indian cricket team will have to take a tough call on star batter Abhishek Sharma when it comes to the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Sunday. It has been a disappointing campaign for Abhishek till now as he has scored just 89 runs in 7 matches including a hat-trick of ducks in the group stage. Ex-India batter Kaif pointed out that the team management can back Abhishek despite his dismal run of form as Virat Kohli bounced back from a similar situation to guide his team to victory in 2024.
However, on the other hand, he suggested that head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Suryakumar Yadav may consider to bring back Rinku Singh as he can end up performing well like Sanju Samson.
"Team management has to take a tough call on Abhishek Sharma. Some say he should play today since an out-of-form Kohli won the final for India last time. But then Kohli is king of ICC events. Some say he should be replaced by Rinku who like Sanju Samson can make a grand comeback. DUVIDHA!!!" Kaif wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Team management has to take a tough call on Abhishek Sharma. Some say he should play today since an out-of-form Kohli won the final for India last time. But then Kohli is king of ICC events. Some say he should be replaced by Rinku who like Sanju Samson can make a grand comeback.…
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) March 8, 2026
Coming to both teams' T20 WC 2026 campaigns, India and New Zealand took different routes to the T20 World Cup 2026 final.
New Zealand recovered from group-stage losses to South Africa and England to dominate the semifinals, chasing down 170 against South Africa with a nine-wicket win in 12.5 overs, highlighted by Finn Allen's 33-ball century--the fastest in T20 World Cup history.
India, unbeaten in the group stage except for a Super 8s loss to South Africa, secured a thrilling seven-run semi-final win over England, after posting 253/7 in the first innings of the match.
While New Zealand have historically never lost to India in T20 World Cups (2007, 2016, 2021), India's recent 4-1 T20I series win over the Blackcaps in India gives the hosts the momentum heading into the final.
(With ANI inputs)
Sanju Samson
India Cricket Team
New Zealand Cricket Team