India captain Suryakumar Yadav has confirmed that Abhishek Sharma will be available for selection for the India vs Pakistan match in the T20 World Cup 2026.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan’s captain Salman Ali Agha had expressed the desire to play against India’s best team, which naturally includes Abhishek, who’s the number one T20I batter in the world.
“I hope Abhishek Sharma plays tomorrow. I hope he is recovering well. We want to play against the best,” Agha had told reporters.
Abhishek Sharma, healthy again
Abhishek was in splendid touch before the T20 World Cup. However, prior to India’s opening match against the USA on February 7, he fell under the weather. After he registered a golden duck in Mumbai, it came out that he had a high fever, 103, and was carrying a stomach bug.
After Team India travelled to Delhi to play Namibia, Abhishek had to be admitted to the hospital after a stomach infection got worse. During a rough couple of days, Abhishek lost weight. As a result, he was rested for India’s second group-stage match.
In a positive update, Varun Chakaravarthy had hinted that Abhishek was getting close to his best, before India left for Colombo. It turns out that was correct. Asked about Agha’s request before the India vs Pakistan match, Suryakumar confirmed that Abhishek will play.
“If the Pakistan captain wants… we will play him,” Suryakumar cheekily responded.
India squad for Pakistan match
Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samsom, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel (vc), Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar
