The India-Pakistan T20 World Cup showdown in Colombo delivered early heartbreak for Abhishek Sharma, who fell for nought off four balls. Returning from illness, the 25-year-old was snared by Shaheen Afridi off Salman Agha, extending his torrid run.
No runs in two World Cup games now—mirroring his USA first-ball duck. Across last six T20Is: four ducks, with 98 runs total from highs like 68* vs NZ.
India shuffled: Abhishek in, Sanju out; Kuldeep for Arshdeep. Suryakumar Yadav captained Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan unchanged: Salman Agha (c), Sam Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Khan (wk), Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmad, Usman Tariq.
T20I record: India 7-1 over Pak. Venue insight: batting first perfect in three WC games; chasers won prior eight.
Will Abhishek bounce back, or signal deeper batting concerns for India?