“Anth bhala toh sab bhala.
In Indian cinema, this line usually comes just before the credits roll. The hero may have been floundering for most of the film, but if the ending turns out perfectly, everything that came before suddenly feels like part of the journey.
Cricket tournaments often follow the same narrative logic.
For Abhishek Sharma, FIFA World Cup T20 2026 felt like a long and uncomfortable middle act. The kind where the script refuses to cooperate, the timing never quite clicks, and the critics get louder with every scene.
Read the full article
However, the finals still remain.
And if there’s one player whose story proves that a botched tournament can still end in glory, it’s Virat Kohli.
Abhishek came to this World Cup with huge expectations. Over the past few seasons, the left-hander has built a reputation as one of India’s most dangerous T20 batsmen. His ability to defeat bowling attacks in the powerplay quickly propelled him into the limelight and even briefly propelled him to the top of the ICC T20I batting rankings.
Of course the hype machine followed. Abhishek’s T20 World Cup 2026 didn’t go as expected. (Photo: PTI)
Some saw him as India’s explosive X-factor at the top. Others pointed to the influence of his mentor Yuvraj Singh and envisioned another World Cup campaign lit up by fearless hitting.
Instead, the tournament turned into a test of survival.
Gastritis struck early, forcing Abhishek to play the opening match against the United States while ill. The match ended with a duck on the first ball. His condition worsened soon after, requiring hospitalization and ruling him out of the Namibia clash.
When he returned, the fighting continued.
Completed back-to-back ducks against Pakistan and Netherlands unwanted hat trick nil. Former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir even called him a slogger. The remark was harsh at first, but slowly gained traction as the tournament progressed.
Since then, the runs have come in flashes rather than streams. A composed 55 against Zimbabwe offered temporary relief, but scores of 15 against South Africa, 10 against the West Indies and nine in the semi-final against England kept the questions alive.
And yet, for anyone who remembers the previous T20 World Cup well, the plot suddenly seems familiar.
Because India has already seen this movie once.
IS ABHISHEK FOLLOWING KOHLI’S SCRIPT 2024?
If Abhishek’s campaign is frustrating, it’s worth remembering how the 2024 T20 World Cup was shaping up for Kohli.
Back then, the Indian legend entered the tournament carrying the weight of expectations, only to find himself stuck in an unusual slump with the bat.
When Kohli opened the batting on the tricky New York surface, he struggled with timing and rhythm. His first three innings summed up the frustration perfectly. Score 1, 4 and a golden duck against USA.
The slump didn’t end there.
In the seven matches leading up to the final in Barbados, Kohli’s scores were 1, 4, 0, 24, 37, 0 and 9. He scored just 75 runs in the entire tournament before India reached the title challenge.
For a player who built his career on consistency, it was a staggering statistic.
Now comes an interesting twist.
Abhishek, despite all the criticism surrounding his campaign, has actually scored more runs than Kohli before this final in 2024. The youngster has 89 runs from seven matches, including his half-century against Zimbabwe. Kohli’s 2024 World Cup and Abhishek’s 2026 T20 World Cup look very similar so far. (Reuters, PTI Photo)
Of course, comparing the two directly would be unfair. By then, Kohli had already spent more than a decade mastering high-pressure cricket. Abhishek is still finding out what the pressure is like.
But the broad narrative feels oddly similar to me.
A highly rated batsman making his way through the tournament. More questions before the finale. Doubts everywhere.
Like so many millions of times in his career, Kohli flipped the script in spectacular fashion in the final.
On 29 June in Barbados, he produced a match-defining 76 off 59 balls against South Africa, anchoring India to 176/7 and guiding them to a dramatic seven-run victory. The knock earned him man of the match in front of him announced his retirement from T20 internationals.
Which leaves one tempting option.
If Kohli could rewrite his tournament story in one night, perhaps Abhishek could still get a chance to do the same at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
SANJU PULLS OUT THE CHARACTER OF ROHIT FOR ABHISHEK
Outside the Indian camp, the talk around Abhishek has largely revolved around his form.
Inside the locker room, the tone was very different.
After the semi-final in Mumbai, Sanju Samson made it clear that the team remains firmly behind the struggling quarterback.
“We have a great environment in the dressing room. Our leaders have a lot of faith in Abhishek and we all support him. Every player goes through ups and downs. It can take a few good shots in the middle and everything can change in this format. We still have faith in him and who knows, maybe it will be his day in the finals,” said Samson.
The statement sounded eerily familiar.
Ahead of the 2024 final, Rohit Sharma publicly defended Kohli despite his poor scores.
“He’s a quality player. Any player can go through that. We understand his class and his importance in all these big games. Form is never an issue because when you play cricket for 15 years, it’s not an issue. He’s probably saving up for the final,” Rohit said.
Kohli lived up to that belief.
Whether Abhishek can cause a similar turnaround remains unknown. However, the Indians camp clearly believes the youngster deserves the opportunity to script his own moment.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes the key lies in understanding the batter’s mental space rather than making hasty decisions.
“If the team management doesn’t realize that he’s not there mentally. If his mindset has beaten him mentally, it’s up to them to judge that from the outside, by talking to him when they’ve seen him fire into the nets,” Shastri said.
Former Indian captain Kapil Dev also urged the youngster to believe in himself.
“Just believe in your team and the management should believe in the player. And Abhishek should believe in himself that ‘I can perform and I will perform’. There is still one match, the final,” Kapil said.
Seven games of frustration can suddenly become irrelevant if one night goes your way. One clean swing, one unthreatened inning, one winning moment.
For Abhishek Sharma, the finale is the only attempt to turn the whole story upside down.
Because sometimes one big night is enough to make the whole tournament suddenly make sense.
T20 World Cup | T20 World Cup Schedule | T20 World Cup Points Table | T20 World Cup Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
– The end
Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
07 Mar 2026 10:48 IST
