Key Points
- Abhishek Sharma's horrendous run in the T20 World Cup continued with a third straight duck.
- Abhishek is yet to open his account in the tournament.
- He has been dismissed for zero five times in T20Is this year.
Abhishek Sharma's prolonged lean patch has become one of the biggest talking points of India's T20 World Cup campaign after he fell for a third straight duck in the tournament.
Abhishek, who was dismissed for a golden duck in India's tournament opener against the USA, missed the next match against Namibia with a stomach infection. Sanju Samson, who replaced him, scored an 8-ball 22 in that match.
Abhishek returned to the playing XI in the game against Pakistan in Colombo, but was out for a four-ball duck.
On Wednesday, February 18, 2026, he once again failed to open his account in India's last group assignment against The Netherlands, registering a three-ball duck.
Interestingly, Abhishek came to the crease wearing Mohammed Siraj's jersey, and Nasser Hussain from the commentary box described the move as 'different top for change of luck'. However, the change of jersey failed to snap the southpaw's poor run of form.
Abhishek, who entered the marquee event as the top-ranked player in the format, is yet to score a single run.
His latest dismissal once again left India reeling at the top, with fans and experts stunned by the rare slump of one of the game's most explosive openers.
An ignominious low
So far in 2026, Abhishek has been dismissed for zero five times in T20Is, finding himself in an unwanted company of openers who recorded the most number of ducks in a calendar year in the shortest format.
The list is topped by Pakistan's Saim Ayub, who had six ducks against his name in 2025.
Abhishek has joined Thailand's Chaloemwong Chatphaisan, Nepal's Kushal Bhurtel, Indonesia's Dharma Kesuma and Bangladesh's Parvez Hossain Emon, who occupy the second spot with five ducks apiece.
He recorded two golden ducks in the T20I home series against New Zealand prior to the World Cup.
His last seven T20I scores read: 0 (1b), 68 not out (20b), 0 (1b), 30 (16b), 0 (1b), 0 (4b) and 0 (3b).
With crucial matches ahead in the Super 8s, India will be desperate for their star opener to rediscover his touch and provide the strong starts that can set the tone for the rest of the batting line-up.
© 2026