IND vs NZ: ‘Exclude Abhishek Sharma’, will finisher Rinku Singh enter the final? Gavaskar’s appeal

New Delhi. A few hours are left for the T20 World Cup final to be held between India and New Zealand. Today (8 March) this title match will be played at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad from 7 pm. There is a lot of discussion about how India’s playing 11 will be in this match. Great Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar has appealed to the team management that out-of-form opener Abhishek Sharma should be kept out of the final match of T20 World Cup 2026. Gavaskar demanded to include Rinku Singh, who played the role of finisher, in the playing-11 in his place.

Abhishek Sharma’s performance in this tournament has not been good. He has crossed the 50-run mark only once in the entire tournament and has repeatedly looked in trouble against spin bowling. This left-handed batsman has been dismissed four times by spin bowlers. For this reason, opposing teams are now using more spin bowlers in the powerplay to take advantage of their weakness.

25 year old Abhishek’s poor performance continued in the semi-finals also. He scored 9 runs in just 7 balls and was out in the second over off the bowling of Will Jacques. His scores in the entire tournament were – 0, 0, 0, 15, 55, 10 and 9. He scored a total of 89 runs and his average was only 12.71.

Gavaskar said while talking to India Today, ‘This is a very difficult decision. Abhishek Sharma is the number-1 batsman in the ICC T20 rankings, but he has not learned anything from his mistakes. He is getting out again and again at the same place where he faces difficulty in playing shots. The bowlers are making them commit mistakes by bowling the ball at the same place. My concern is that he has not yet changed his batting or perhaps is not able to.

Rinku Singh.

Gavaskar suggested that the Indian team management should make changes in the opening. He said that Ishan Kishan should open with Sanju Samson and Rinku Singh should be included in the team in place of Abhishek Sharma. Gavaskar said, ‘I want Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson to open and Rinku Singh to come into the team. Rinku has confidence. You might have also seen the tattoo of ‘God’s Plan’ on his body. Sometimes things fall into place for such players on their own.

Gavaskar also advised changes in bowling. He said that instead of out of form spinner Varun Chakraborty, left arm chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav should be given a chance in the final.