India captain Suryakumar Yadav responded sharply at a query asking him to drop Abhishek Sharma from their T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 clash against South Africa in Ahmedabad on Sunday, February 22, as well. This comment came after Abhishek had been under fire after his hat-trick of ducks against the USA, Pakistan, and the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup 2026 group-stage games as well.

Speaking during the pre-match press conference, Yadav said, “You are asking me to drop Abhishek?”

“About Abhishek’s form, I worry for the people who are worried about Abhishek’s form; I worry about them. Why are they so worried about Abhishek’s form? But I think about those teams who are going to play against him. That he has not yet scored a run. You know the rest of the answers. When he scores a run, you have seen what happens. It happens, it’s a team sport, it keeps going on. Now the team has a requirement that the boy should play with his identity. So he is trying to play. If it happens, then it’s fine, if it doesn’t, then we are there to cover. Last year he covered for us, now we will cover for him,” he further added.

READ HERE: Arshdeep Singh reveals hilarious prank on Ravi Bishnoi during IPL 2020

Meanwhile, former India cricketer Saba Karim has also urged Abhishek Sharma to stay patient instead of trying to play aggressively as well.

He said (via ESPNcricinfo): “I think that will be the matchup (Abhishek and Kishan vs Markram) that too around the stumps, especially the hard lengths where the ball comes in because Abhishek Sharma, at this time, is trying to play across the line. As I said, play with the straight bat and rotate the strike; it doesn’t matter.”

“Play with the straight bat and rotate the strike; it doesn’t matter. A little patience will benefit Abhishek Sharma because the opposition are well aware of his preparations. Now, Abhishek needs to break that pattern. He’s now aware that if he has to play long-term and return to form, then he has to prepare against such bowling attacks,” he concluded.