Ravi Shastri pointed out that the last time the "Men in Blue" faced England, Abhishek smashed 135 runs, which is the highest T20I score by an Indian batsman
Ravi Shastri (Pic: X/@RaviShastriOfc)
In the T20 World Cup 2026, Team India is all set to take on England in the semi-final of the marquee event. The match is scheduled to be played on March 5 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Ahead of the match, it will be interesting to see if Team India's opening batsman Abhishek Sharma manages to find himself among the runs. Speaking about his form, former cricketer Ravi Shastri feels that the management should keep a watch on him during the net sessions and then judge the left-handed batsman.
"Unless the team management realises that, mentally he's not there. If mentally, his mindset has taken a beating, it is for them to judge from the outside, in conversations with him, just seeing the way he is batting in the nets," he said as quoted by the ICC.
The former cricketer then said that the only change he would consider is putting Ishan Kishan up the order again and including Rinku Singh in the lower order.
"If that is the case, then and only then will I think of putting Ishan Kishan up the order and then probably Rinku Singh bringing him, at the bottom," said Shastri.
He also pointed out that the last time the "Men in Blue" faced England, Abhishek smashed 135 runs, which is the highest T20I score by an Indian batsman. He also backed the 25-year-old cricketer by saying he has got big hundreds.
"That could be the only change, but I would still persist with him because last time India played England, he had a terrific series against them," said the 63-year-old former cricketer.
"I would not take that away at the Wankhede. He has done well in the past. He's got some big hundreds there and very quick hundreds. I will persist with him because there is enough firepower in that batting," he concluded.
T20 World Cup 2026: India's squad for the marquee tournament
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (WK), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan (WK), Rinku Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma.
(With ANI Inputs)
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