Former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has waged a verbal war in the lead-up to the India vs Pakistan match in the T20 World Cup 2026. Two days before the high-octane clash in Colombo, Amir called the No. 1 T20I-ranked batter in the world, Abhishek Sharma, a ‘slogger’.
Amir attacks India’s best batter
While discussing India’s performance against Namibia and how Pakistan can tackle the Men in Blue, Amir claimed that Abhishek isn’t technically sound. He basically called the southpaw Indian opener a ‘lappebaz’, a term often used to insult batters of an attacking nature.
Amir went on to say that Abhishek scores once in every 10 innings or so, and that only happens when bowlers feed him balls in his arc. He just stands and whacks the ball like a slogger.
“By whatever little I have seen, if you ask me honestly, I feel he is just a slogger. He has to go hard at every ball. The day he gets going, it is fine. Otherwise, uske failure ke chances zyaada hain (the chances of failure are high). He scores once in 8 innings. Otherwise, his scores are 10, 15, 0 and 20. I don’t think he is technically sound. He just stands there and wants all balls to be bowled in a particular area,” Amir said while speaking on Geo News.
How Pakistan can trap Abhishek Sharma
The left-arm pacer went on to say that a smart bowler can outsmart Abhishek easily. Citing how against the United States of America (USA) he bagged a duck, Amir stated that teams can exploit his lack of technique by swinging the ball away from him and using slower balls. He ended by proclaiming that he’ll consider Abhishek a good batter if he plays well against swing bowlers.
“He has a very high-risk game. A smart bowler can tackle him. You can’t let him open his arm. The USA did this. They placed a fielder at deep cover for him. Early on, if you swing the ball away from his body, he loses his position. A good slower ball can be effective as well, because of how hard he goes at the ball. I’ll consider him a proper batsman if he tackles swing well,” the pacer concluded.
Abhishek Sharma T20I stats
| Innings | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s |
| 38 | 1297 | 135 | 36.02 | 194.45 | 2 | 8 |
