T20 World Cup 2026: Kapil Dev backs under-fire Abhishek Sharma, says star opener should ‘believe in himself’

Legendary former captain Kapil Dev on Friday said the Indian team management should retain Abhishek Sharma for the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand despite his failure to get going in the high-profile tournament so far.

Abhishek has scored just one half-century, against Zimbabwe, in the mega-event and is being looked upon as a potential weakness for India if persisted with in the summit clash on Sunday in Ahmedabad.

“Just believe in your team, and the management should believe in the player. And Abhishek should believe in himself that ‘I can perform and I will perform’. Still, one game is there—the final,” Kapil said on the sidelines of a golf event in New Delhi.

ALSO READ | India vs England semifinal shatters world record for digitial viewership

India defeated England by seven runs in a thrilling semifinal clash on Thursday night in Mumbai.

Despite posting a mammoth 253, the Indians were in a spot of bother due to the counter-offensive launched by Jacob Bethell (105 off 48 balls) and Will Jacks (35 off 20 balls). Kapil said he did not expect the match to be this close.

“I didn’t think that it would become this difficult after India scored 250-plus. It was a brilliant game. Yes, India won, congratulations to them, but in the end, it was cricket’s win. I enjoyed it a lot, not as a bowler though,” the pace great quipped.

Kapil was impressed with Indian spearhead Jasprit Bumrah’s composure in the high-pressure game and said his death-overs performance once again showed just why he is considered the best in the world.

“Bumrah is the No. 1 bowler in the world; he is the best. Why is he the best? Because he delivers under pressure and the way he bowls. He deserves all the respect from everybody,” he said.

Equally praiseworthy, in Kapil’s view, was opener Sanju Samson’s 42-ball 89 that became the foundation of India’s massive score.

“He is a brilliant cricketer; a big player can go out of target sometimes, what happened to Abhishek, but if they are big, they are big, and they will come back. And Sanju really played wonderful cricket in the last two games,” he said, referring to his 97 in the must-win Super Eight game against West Indies earlier in the tournament.

Published on Mar 06, 2026