‘He carried us all year, now we’ll back him’: Suryakumar Yadav on Abhishek Sharma’s T20 World Cup 2026 struggles

Despite his poor run in the T20 World Cup 2026, Abhishek Sharma continues to receive strong support from India captain Suryakumar Yadav. The 25-year-old batter has had a difficult start to his first ICC tournament. So far, he has played three matches and was dismissed for duck in all of them. He also missed India’s match against Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium because of a stomach illness and was admitted to hospital in Delhi. His poor form has also led some cricket experts to question on his participation in the playing XI.

However, Suryakumar made it clear that he believes in the young opener. Speaking at the pre match press conference, the captain said Abhishek had played a key role for the team this year and now it is the team’s turn to support him. The 35-year-old also joked that he worries more about the critics than about Abhishek’s form.

"Those who worry about Abhishek Sharma’s form, I worry about them. He covered for us all year, now it's our turn,"Suryakumar Yadav told reporters.

Also Read - SL vs ENG, T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8: Check live streaming details, head-to-head, pitch & weather report

Meanwhile, India remained unbeaten in the ongoing tournament. They started with a 29-run win over the United States and then beat Namibia. India later defeated their arch-rivals, Pakistan by 61 runs and ended the group stage with a 17-run victory over the Netherlands. With four wins in four matches, India topped Group A.

In the T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eight stage, India are in Group 1 with Zimbabwe, South Africa and the West Indies. Their next match is against Aiden Markram’s South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday (Feb 22).