Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has offered simple but timely advice to Abhishek Sharma as the young opener looks to bounce back from a difficult start to his World T20 campaign.
Abhishek suffered a slump early in the tournament, including back-to-back ducks, which firmly planted the spotlight on his approach at the top of the order. Speaking to India Today’s sister channel Sports Today, Gavaskar urged the left-hander to focus on the basics first before unleashing his natural attacking game.
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“My unsolicited advice to Abhishek Sharma, just knock a single first. That’s it. Then you can start banging. But just knock a single, take a quick single where your feet are moving fast too, and then move on,” he said in an exclusive interview with Sports Today.
“It’s the confidence you have in yourself. He got a hundred against New Zealand. He’s in form and he’s in touch and he’s capitalizing on it. The important thing is that he doesn’t take good form for granted. A lot of batsmen do that and see it go. Once you’re ready, you can go out of your territory and that’s exactly what we’ve seen from him,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
WHAT HAPPENED WRONG WITH ABHISHEK SHARMA?
Abhishek entered the World Cup with great promise after a run away in recent months, but his campaign was halted by a combination of illness and poor starts. The 23-year-old missed India’s match against Namibia after being hospitalized with a reported stomach ulcer and returned for the clash against Pakistan in Colombo.
However, the comeback did not go as expectedwhen Abhishek dropped another duck, he has two scoreless outings in his only two games thus far. The early dismissal raised questions about whether he was trying too hard at the top too soon.
WHY THE GAVASKAR COUNCIL CAN HELP
Gavaskar’s message was clear: strip it back to the simplest first step. By focusing on getting off the mark and allowing time at the crease, Abhishek can rebuild rhythm and confidence before extending his range.
The former captain also pointed to Abhishek’s recent success, including his century against New Zealand, as a testament to the talent and form he has. With India already in the Super 8 stage, Abhishek may now have the breathing space to reset, settle in and play with the freedom that made him such an exciting prospect.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
February 17, 2026