Mohammad Amir Takes Brutal 'One-Dimensional' Dig At Abhishek, Says He Won't "Survive"

Former Pakistan cricketer-turned-pundit Mohammad Amir hasn't missed a chance to criticise Abhishek Sharma. As the India opener failed to deliver with the bat in the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal against England, Amir came up with another bold verdict, saying the batter is destined to fail unless he changes his game. Abhishek arrived at the T20 World Cup on the back of exemplary form but has managed only one fifty-plus score so far.

Amir, speaking about the difference between bilateral series and ICC events, highlighted how teams prepare for each player far more thoroughly in global tournaments than they do in one-off assignments.

"Look, there is a world of difference between a bilateral series and an ICC event. In a series, teams maybe don't focus in the same way; they think, okay, in this series we have to try out players, that's where their focus is, and they don't mark players that intensely. But when you come into ICC events, every team marks every player they are going to face. By now, everyone has figured out which are Abhishek Sharma's strong areas and which are his weak zones.

"You can see he gets stuck even against off-spinners, and when a fast bowler comes in and keeps targeting his body with the ball, he struggles. So to perform in international cricket, especially in big events, you have to be very strong technically and mentally," Amir said during a chat on Geo News.

Amir feels Abhishek's batting talent lacks depth, unlike his opening partner Sanju Samson, who regained top form in the T20 World Cup after struggling for runs in the preceding bilateral matches.

"Now, why is Sanju Samson performing? Because if you look at his background, first look at his technique, then look at his first-class career, then his IPL career, he can play all around the wicket. A one-dimensional player, as I said at the start, doesn't work in T20 anymore. You have to play all around.

"Look at Bethell's innings: when the spinner comes on, he is reverse-hitting him as well; off the first two balls, he hit two sixes to Varun Chakravarthy, and off the third ball, he hit a six with a reverse sweep. But now one-dimensional players simply cannot survive in cricket; you have to play in every direction, you need 360-degree players," he asserted.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team England Cricket Team Abhishek Sharma Sanju Samson Mohammad Amir T20 World Cup 2026 Cricket