Our job is to keep him in a good frame of mind, you will see the same Abhishek Sharma again: Team India batting coach

Team India batting coach Sitanshu Kottak has defended the under-performing opening batter Abhishek Sharma to regain his lost rhythm, adding that a big score from his willow is not far away in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

Interestingly, Sharma managed to score only 15 runs from four innings in the showpiece event at an average of 3.75 and a strike rate of 75 with three consecutive ducks. He managed to get off the mark in the tournament against South Africa in the recent Super8 clash.

"Abhishek's health was a little bad, and after that, there wasn't that much momentum. But in the last game (vs SA), he looked good, and over-thinking about one individual, personally, I never liked that," Kotak said during the pre-match press conference.

"If we focus so much on one person, then obviously, that person also will be under pressure. When he was scoring 80, 70, 90 in 30 balls or 100 in 40, 50 balls, that time nobody was discussing,” he added.

"Our job is to keep him in a good frame of mind. Once he starts hitting the ball again, you'll see the same Abhishek again. Now, in T20s, nobody can give a guarantee that he will do it in the next match. So, I think it's not far (Abhishek getting a big score)," he noted.

India has been constantly batting with three left-handed batters in the top three in the ongoing showpiece event, and this ploy turned out to be an advantage for the opposition, taking the top-order wickets quite early regularly.

"There can be changes, yes, because two left-handers are opening, number three is left-handed, and opposition is bowling spin. I personally don't think there is any problem in that but because we lost the last game (against South Africa), we lost a wicket in the first over...obviously, any team would think," he said.

"We'll see how it goes because we never decide the team too early. And obviously, it's not fair to start telling your planning in advance. But there will be thoughts," he added.

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