The Indian cricket team is currently stuck in a big dilemma. Team India, which has entered as the strongest and biggest contender in the T20 World Cup 2026, is currently facing a crisis of survival in the tournament. A major reason for this is the failure of the batsmen, which has led to this situation. Especially the failure of opener Abhishek Sharma in the entire tournament is a cause of concern. In such a situation, questions are being raised whether Abhishek should be dropped? Or will there be a change in the opening pair by demoting him in the batting order?
In the first match of Super-8 against South Africa, Team India had to face defeat by 76 runs. After this, now Team India needs a big win in its second match against Zimbabwe, so that its hopes of reaching the semi-finals remain alive. Before this match to be held in Chennai on Thursday 26 February, Team India took part in a practice session on Tuesday. The sight seen in this practice session Abhishek Sharma Gave more weight to these questions.
Team India practiced at MA Chidambaram Stadium two days before the match. According to reports, during this time, Sanju Samson was seen practicing batting with Ishan Kishan in the main nets of the team. Team India generally practices in the same batting position with which they have to enter the match. In such a situation, seeing Sanju batting with Ishaan, it is natural to raise the question whether Team India is going to drop Abhishek? One reason for this question being raised is that Abhishek Sharma was bowling during this time.
Sanju-Ishan batting on first net.
Abhishek bowling along with Varun and Aksar in Chennai. pic.twitter.com/6Pjmz7fLtx— Vimal Kumar (@Vimalwa) February 24, 2026
Not only this, Tilak Verma, who was struggling with poor form like Abhishek, was also a part of the initial nets session. Whereas Abhishek Sharma later came out separately for batting practice. The special thing is that he was not a part of the main nets and during this time he was seen facing less the main bowlers of Team India and more the net bowlers, in which the number of spinners was more.
All eyes on Abhishek Sharma- He is mainly batting vs Net bowlers be it spin or pacers & most importantly he is not batting at the start. pic.twitter.com/90chRCse8G
— Rohit Juglan (@rohitjuglan) February 24, 2026
Abhishek's performance has not been good so far in this World Cup. He could not even open his account in 3 consecutive out of 4 innings of the tournament. He was successful in scoring runs against South Africa but in this too he was out on 15 runs only. During this time he also appeared constantly worried. However, despite this, it seems unlikely that the team will drop him. However, it is possible that Sanju Samson may be included in the playing-11 while dropping Tilak Verma and in that case either Abhishek or Ishaan may be removed from the opening and sent to number three.
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