India’s decision to stick with Abhishek Sharma despite his prolonged lean run at the T20 World Cup has raised a lot of questions throughout the tournament. However, head coach Gautam Gambhir has now explained why the team management has continued to back the young opener.
India won their third World T20 title after defeating New Zealand in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Speaking exclusively to India Today’s sister channel AajTak, Gambhir said the team selection philosophy was built on trust and impact rather than short-term form.
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“Look, you pick players based on trust and belief, not hope. If you pick someone based on trust and belief, you can’t take it after four or five matches. But if you pick someone only on hope, then you can lose it very quickly,” Gambhir said.
“Whether it’s Abhishek or any of the 15 players in that dressing room, we believe in all of them. Whenever they get an opportunity at any stage of the competition, they go for the team. The most important thing for this team was to put the team before themselves.”
Gambhir explained how he and the rest of the coaching staff of the Indian team they graded players not only on the number of runs but also on intent and the impact they bring to the game.
“People outside can only look at Abhishek’s runs. But if you ask me as a coach, there has never been a match where Abhishek has scored anything like 20 runs in 20 balls. Such innings hurt the team more than when you try to play aggressively,” he said.
“So the simple message for him was: if you’re not scoring goals, go into the next game and play even more aggressively instead of going into your shell.”
India’s head coach further used the example of Sanju Samson explain how unrealistic it is to expect every player in the World Cup squad to be fit at the same time.
“You see, it never happens that every player in the team is in form. That has never happened to any team. You can never go to the World Cup with every player in top form. There will always be players in form and some out of form,” he said.
“If you saw the New Zealand series, Sanju didn’t score. But the way he batted in the World Cup, I think it’s every cricketer’s dream. And actually it was the opposite with Abhishek Sharma. That’s the nature of the T20 format. People judge players by the number of runs they score, but the team management judges them by the impact they create.
ABHISHEK’S FORGOTTEN WORLD CUP
Abhishek entered the tournament with huge expectations after a sensational run in T20 cricket over the past few seasons. The left-hander has built a reputation as one of India’s most devastating power-play batsmen and has even climbed to the top of the ICC T20I rankings.
However, the tournament soon turned into a difficult phase.
A stomach infection forced him to play the opening match against the United States when he was unwell, where he was dismissed for a first-ball duck. His condition worsened soon after, leading to hospitalization and ruling him out of the Namibia clash.
Things only got more difficult from there. Consecutive ducks against Pakistan and the Netherlands completed an unwanted hat-trick of wickets that drew criticism from several quarters.
Former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir even called him a “fat man”, a remark that sparked debate among fans and pundits.
Although Abhishek briefly rediscovered form with a half-century against Zimbabwe in the Super 8 stage, the runs continued to come only in patches.
He managed scores of 15 against South Africa, 10 against the West Indies and nine in the semi-final against England, leaving many fans questioning his place in the playing eleven before the final.
In the build-up to the summit clash, Abhishek scored just 89 runs in seven matches, prompting calls to open the batting in the form of Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan instead.
HOW ABHISHEK REDEEMED himself IN SP T20 FINAL
The finale in Ahmedabad ended up being the perfect stage for Abhishek’s redemption.
Facing New Zealand in front of a packed crowd, the young opener unleashed a breathtaking counter-attack that stunned the opposition bowlers.
Abhishek raced to his half-century in just 18 balls, hitting three fours and four sixes along the way.
The knock not only gave India a perfect start but also rewrote the record books. His 18-ball fifty became the fastest half-century in the history of T20 World Cup knockout matches.
The previous record was held by New Zealand’s Finn Allen, who scored a 19-ball fifty against South Africa in the semi-final earlier in the tournament.
Abhishek ended up finishing with a whopping 52 off just 21 deliveries, setting the tone for India’s massive innings and helping silence the doubts that had dogged him for much of the contest.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
09 March 2026 15:16 IST
