Shastri, Ponting urge faith in under-pressure India batter

Despite a lean run at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, both Ravi Shastri and Ricky Ponting have thrown their weight behind Abhishek Sharma, backing the opener to deliver when it matters most.

Speaking to Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review, Shastri stressed that any decision regarding his place in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2026 against England must first be based on the left-hand batter’s mental space.

"Unless the team management realises that, mentally he's not there. If mentally, his mindset has taken a beating, it's for them to judge from the outside, in conversations with him, just seeing the way he's batting in the nets," the former India head coach said.

Abhishek’s numbers in this tournament – 80 runs in six matches at an average of 13.33, with a highest score of 55 and a strike rate of 131.14 – reflect the struggle. But Ponting too believes the batter’s attacking instinct should be trusted.

"He's obviously not made the runs that any of us expected,” Ponting stated. “I had him down as the leading run scorer and possibly the player of the tournament going back about a month ago. That hasn't happened yet, but I would agree with Ravi. I would stick with him."

Shastri outlined the only scenario in which he would consider a tweak to the batting order, where Ishan Kishan, who has had a strong tournament himself with 224 runs from seven games, would move up the order.

"If that's 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,” he added.

“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."

Though the 25-year-old was dismissed for a golden duck in India’s tournament opener against the USA, Abhishek’s previous outing at the Wankhede stadium yielded a 54-ball 135 at a strike rate of 250. And the team on the receiving end was none other than their semi-final opponent England.

"I won't take that away at the Wankhede,” Shastri said. “He's done well in the past. He's got some big hundreds there and very quick hundreds. I'll persist with him because there's enough firepower in that batting."

Ponting emphasised the impact Abhishek can have on his day, while also highlighting India’s enviable depth, in case he doesn’t.

In Abhishek’s slump, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Kishan, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya have all contributed with over 150 runs in the tournament to their name.

"We know on his day, he's an out-and-out match-winner,” Ponting said. “But that's the hard thing with this Indian side as well. And if you were to leave him out and you bring Rinku in, then you've got another match-winner coming into your side as well.

"I like the look of their top order the other day, the way that it was left-hand, right-hand openers, Kishan in at number three, who's a very dangerous player in himself. I'd be keeping a really close eye on the way Abhishek's going about his training."

Ponting suggested a mental reset could unlock something special for the dazzling batter.

“Sometimes, when you're going through a bit of a slump like that, it's not always best just to go into the nets every day and bat for an hour and a half.

“Sometimes it's better off to let these guys just have a couple of days away, like mentally freshen up. The skills don't go anywhere. You don't lose your skills,” Ponting noted.

"But in a tournament like this, when you're consistently and constantly under pressure and the results aren't coming, sometimes just leaving your bag zipped up, turning up the training, getting a little bit of bowling done, getting your fielding done, but not actually batting and almost starving yourself of going back into the nets.

“I think Abhishek's got something up his sleeve for the semi-final."

Defending champions India and England will be eyeing a place in the final when they take on each other on 5 March at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.