IND vs PAK: Abhishek Sharma Registers Second Consecutive Duck In T20 World Cup 2026 | IMAGE SOURCE - AFP
IND vs PAK: The Indian cricket fans took a sigh of relief when captain Suryakumar Yadav announced the return of superstar batter Abhishek Sharma in the playing XI for the high-voltage clash against the Pakistan cricket team on Sunday in Colombo. However, their happiness didn’t last long as the Indian team lost their returning star for a four-ball duck in the opening over of the match at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Abhishek Sharma, who was in a red-hot form before entering the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026, has had a disappointing start to the tournament with a stomach bug affecting him even before the Indian campaign opener in Mumbai last week, which was against the USA cricket team. Playing the tournament opener at the Wankhede Stadium despite being unwell, Abhishek Sharma failed badly to perform and eventually fell for a golden duck. He didn’t even field later in the match.
As his didn’t recover on time, he was subsequently unavailable for selection during the second match of India’s campaign in the ongoing tournament, against Namibia. Abhishek Sharma was hospitalised in Delhi and he regained his fitness on match eve in Colombo. He later had an extended net session before replacing Sanju Samson in the playing XI on Sunday.
However, to the disappointment of the Indian cricket fans, Abshishek Sharma failed to score any runs and was dismissed for a four-ball duck.
The duck against the Pakistan cricket team was Abhishek Sharma’s second zero score in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 for team India. With this, he became the first Indian batter to score two ducks in his first two innings of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Though, former Indian cricketer Ashish Nehra also scored two back-to-back games in his first two innings of a T20 World Cup, but those games were not the first two World Cup matches of his career.
India’s Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy
Pakistan’s Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha (C), Babar Azam, Usman Khan (WK), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmad, Usman Tariq
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