Abhishek Sharma came in and stole the show at a packed Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, and his explosive innings helped India win the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 on Sunday, March 8. This time Abhishek Sharma’s performance was the perfect answer to his critics.
However, before the big night, the young Indian opener was struggling with the bat, and even he was out for ducks in three matches and could only manage 89 runs in the tournament. When he was going through a bad phase, former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir had criticized Abhishek’s aggressive batting style during the tournament.
Abhishek Sharma played match-winning innings in the T20 World Cup 2026 final.
But the left-hander changed his story in the T20 World Cup 2026 final. He started his innings against New Zealand in a calm manner as he observed the pitch and bowling attack carefully. However, once he understood the surface, the youngster immediately changed gears.
Also Read: “Jail Tak Hui Hai”: Ahmed Shehzad cooks up ‘fixer’ Mohammad Aamir in live show
The innings quickly turned explosive as the Punjab boy started attacking the bowlers from all directions and brought up his maiden T20 World Cup half-century in just 18 balls, giving the Men in Blue the perfect start to the final against the Black Caps.
His fearless batting helped India post a huge score of 255/5 on the board. That strong foundation later played a big role in India’s 96-run victory and the team ultimately won the T20 World Cup trophy.
Mohammad Aamir gave credit to New Zealand for Abhishek Sharma’s brilliant innings.
After the final, Mohammad Amir reacted to Abhishek Sharma’s innings and admitted that the Indian batsman played an impressive innings. He also criticized New Zealand, saying that their bowling attack looked confused and under pressure during the summit clash.
Aamir has told that New Zealand bowlers kept changing the strategy and bowled many loose balls, which made things easier for the Indian batsmen.
The former Pakistani bowler further said that unusual bowling decisions and lack of control allowed Abhishek and the Indian batsmen to dominate the final and defend the title in style in front of the home crowd.
Also read: Arshdeep Singh asks for reel from Rohit Sharma after T20 WC win; Indian captain refused (watch video)
Never seen New Zealand under so much pressure in my life: Mohammad Aamir
Aamir said on Geo News, “Abhishek played well today, but the credit also goes to New Zealand’s bowling. They were bowling wide and then hitting sixes on the same ball. To be honest, it was strange bowling. Santner first gave the over to Henry, then to Phillips and then completely changed the plan. I did not understand it. I have never seen New Zealand under so much pressure in my life.”
Mohammad Amir said, “Abhishek played well today, but the credit also goes to New Zealand’s bowling. They were bowling wide and then hitting sixes on the same ball. To be honest, it was strange bowling. Santner first gave the over to Henry, then to Phillips and then… pic.twitter.com/b1uhTHZuYM
– Sherry. (@CallMeSheri1_) 8 March 2026
This experiment of Abhishek Sharma works perfectly in T20 World Cup 2025
Meanwhile, Abhishek Sharma made an interesting change before walking out to bat in the title match. Instead of using his own bat, he decided to do something different and picked up the bat of his teammate Shivam Dubey.
The idea came to Abhishek the day before when he felt like trying something new for the important game. So, the young batsman simply went to Dubey and took his bat to the middle, and this change completely worked in his and the team’s favor.
After the match, Abhishek said, “Today I batted with Shivam Dubey’s bat, so thanks Dubey. In the morning I felt I was trying to do something different. Shubhman Gill was not around, so I went to Dubey and picked up his bat.”