Three matches into India’s campaign in the T20 World Cup 2026, India's destructive batter Abhishek Sharma has endured a nightmare start. This kind of batting slump from Abhishek no one saw coming. The left-handed batsman has now been dismissed for a duck in three successive World Cup matches. As India move into the Super 8 stage, his lean patch has become one of the tournament’s most talked-about topics. 

Sharma headed into the tournament as one of India’s key batting assets, boasting a formidable T20I strike rate. However, his World Cup story has taken an unexpected turn. In India’s early matches against the USA, Pakistan, and most recently the Netherlands, Sharma failed to open his account in all three innings, being dismissed without scoring in each. 

The third duck came in Ahmedabad on Wednesday when Netherlands spinner Aryan Dutt uprooted his stumps early in the match, prolonging his lean patch. Meanwhile, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has advised Abhishek to forget the weight of expectations and spend time at the crease before attempting the big shots.

"Maybe the expectations might be weighing just a little too heavily on him. He is a lovely guy. If he had got a flying start in the first game, things might have been different. But now, you can sense that the expectations of being the big guy, the six-hitter, the No. 1 batter in the team, might be weighing heavily on him," Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

"I think with the range of shots he has, he has to give himself a little more time in the middle. Not be looking to open his innings with a boundary or a six. If he gets it, then fine - but looking to play across the line for the big shot, no. Even if there are four dot balls, it does not matter because in the next four to eight balls he can make up for that," Gavaskar stated.

India’s next assignment, which is a Super 8 clash against South Africa on Sunday, will be a tremendous opportunity for Abhishek to make a strong comeback. Meanwhile, India marched into the Super 8 unbeaten, winning all of their group stage matches.