“Without a shadow of a doubt” - Ravi Shastri picks India’s most impactful player in T20 World Cup

Former Team India head coach and commentator Ravi Shastri has claimed that India will “take off” in the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign if their dashing opening batter Abhishek Sharma fires in the mega event.

Speaking at an exclusive event held by the ICC, Shastri asserted that Abhishek would be India’s most impactful player in the forthcoming showpiece event, which is scheduled to start on February 7, in India and Sri Lanka.

Notably, the World No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek went on to smack a 35-ball 84-run knock in the first T20I against New Zealand with eight sixes and five fours in India's 48-run win as the Men In Blue took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

“Abhishek, without a shadow of a doubt. (He's the) No. 1 T20 batsman in the world (and is) in a rich vein of form,” Shastri said at an event to mark the launch of a partnership between Marriott Bonvoy and the ICC.

“Last evening (on Wednesday), he took the game away from New Zealand. You've got to watch out for him because his confidence level is high. He'll be backed by the home crowd and if he takes off, it means India take off,” he added.

Furthermore, Shastri said coaches and players must accept criticism, but it should be in a positive vein, adding that he preferred constructive criticism when he emerged as a broadcaster after opting out of coaching.

“I prefer criticism that is constructive (and) when I became a broadcaster, I said I've divorced the dressing room and I will speak on what I see. It doesn't matter if you were my colleague or you were my friend when I was playing the game,” he stated.

“But that's something you expect. In my tenure, there were good moments and there were rough moments. You just have to take it in your stride because you know there is another game coming up. One day you are in a pole position. The next day you are in a troll position. That can happen. But in a week, you can see all three. You can be in pole, troll, again pole,” he concluded.

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