Abhishek Sharma’s absence hurts India’s top four in T20Is – numbers explain why

Abhishek Sharma’s absence hurts India’s top four in T20Is (AP Photo)

Gautam Gambhir, the current head coach of India, hates this tactic, but his side had to rely on their new "superstar" to ease concerns due to the growing run problem among the top-order faculty before the penultimate Twenty20 International against South Africa in Lucknow.

Both Captain Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill, his deputy, are in a destructive rut. For almost the whole year, the senior hasn't strummed his blade with consistent quality. In the meantime, the underperforming vice skipper hasn't had enough time to explain the intricacies of his IPL model and put India's abrupt anchor-accumulator fallback at the top in perspective.

The leadership group was unable to get a break, not even with a weak 118-run chase up in Dharamsala. Rather, before the T20 World Cup defense starts in Mumbai in 50 days, it was up to the format's new batting maverick, Abhishek Sharma, to have faith in Suryakumar and Gill's capacity to win games.

“Trust me, Suryakumar and Shubman will win matches for India in the World Cup, and in the matches before that as well. I’ve played with them for so long, especially with Shubman. I know where Shubman can excel, in what conditions, irrespective of the opponent. I have full trust in him. Very soon, everyone else will gain that trust in him too,” stated Abhishek on Sunday, following his quickfire 18-ball 35 that relieved the pressure of the chase. But in cold weather, the gap between him and his peers grew.

Abhishek's explosive start had given frantic batters looking for a way out the usual boilerplate after he had propelled India to 60 during the Powerplay. Suryakumar declined the chance due to the puzzling disarray of No. 3s, none of whom having played twice in a row in seven games since the tour of Australia. Gill quickly struck a wall after reaching 24 off 16 deliveries with different degrees of assurance. Before a robotic cut ended his stay, he could add just four more in the next 12 deliveries.

With just 26 needed, Suryakumar Yadav briefly sensed a way out, but the collapse claimed him too. He negotiated Anrich Nortje’s brisk back-of-a-length delivery before two sweetly timed boundaries off Lungi Ngidi raced to the fence. The leg-side slider that followed was too tempting to ignore — the pick-up flick, usually second nature when he is in rhythm. Those back-to-back boundaries, however, proved deceptive. The weight of a lean year lingered, and the timing deserted him once more as he skied the ball straight to fine leg.

If the Abhishek factor is removed from India's 2025 T20I narrative, the Gambhir-coached team will be among the lowest-performing top 4 going into the last stages of the World Cup rehearsal. Before a provisional World Cup team is announced in the first week of the New Year, prior to the five-match New Zealand series, the two matches at the Ekana Stadium and Ahmedabad later this week are probably the final set of revisions possible.

India's top order loses nearly all of the horsepower that has kept them competitive with teams like England and Australia, whose usual top-four hitters are comfortably and collectively striking above 150, in addition to 42% of runs without Abhishek's buccaneering kinetics. In the absence of Abhishek, along with a shaky Gill and Suryakumar, India's top-order strike rate plummets from 147.79 to 124.20, with the average falling by 20 runs (23.90) over 20 games.

The importance of Abhishek's daring in the setup is highlighted by the fact that none of the other top-eight teams at the World Cup have been slower with the bat than India in such a situation this year.

Three of the top four, including Tilak Varma, have slow streaks, which are extended by the sticky square at the Ekana Stadium. Gill's strike rates in these eight Twenty20 matches have been in the mid-120s. Earlier this month, Suryakumar appeared at three Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy games for Mumbai at the location, showing signs of a comeback to high scores. However, he failed to score fifty or more, and from May 2025, the drought has reached 20 games in T20 formats. Tilak's 119.49 strike rate batting Nos. 3 and 4 is quite striking, especially considering that he only played five innings batting first and performed heavy lifting operations in chases.

However, after spending the second part of 2024 developing relentless batting intensity across the board, the blandness might still offer a quick fix for India to win games. With India's better bowling department, which presents a plethora of X-factor alternatives, the Dharamsala game provided an instant alternative.

In the present, Suryakumar and company would try to handle a few batting chinks discreetly, but it's not exactly a spring present India can expect in plenty on fresher venues at the World Cup in February.