Sunil Gavaskar “surprised” to see Abhishek Sharma’s defense against Zimbabwe

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was surprised to watch the explosive opening batter Abhishek Sharma for his defensive strokeplay, praising the opening batter for silencing his critics with a 55-run knock off 30 balls against Zimbabwe.

Abhishek started the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a golden duck against the USA. Later, he got out for a four-ball duck against Pakistan. Later, he suffered a three-ball duck against the Netherlands, making it three ducks in as many games in the group stage.

His 12-ball 15-run knock against South Africa in the initial Super8 clash looked a bit scratchy. However, he silenced his critics with an exceptional 55-run knock off 30 balls against Zimbabwe in the second Super8 clash.

"We know how good Abhishek Sharma is as a batter. He silenced his doubters with this knock of 55 runs against Zimbabwe. He took that extra time to start his innings. There was a method to his batting. He respected the off spinner, didn't take any kind of risks and played in a calm and composed manner. In this game, he actually played a defensive shot. He defended the ball. I was surprised to see that because we don't usually see Abhishek do that,” Sunil Gavaskar told JioStar.

“I really think this is a learning curve for him. Every cricketer goes through a rough patch of not scoring runs in back-to-back games. It is about how much you learn from it,” he added.

“I feel Abhishek has learned a lot and this will augur well for him going forward, in the next couple of games and the all-important clash against West Indies in Kolkata,” Gavaskar concluded.

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