Abhishek Sharma gets advices: 'Hold the phone, remove social media right now'… Abhishek Sharma had no option left.

New Delhi. Indian team's explosive opener Abhishek Sharma was expected to perform brilliantly in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. He created a stir in this format in 2025, but things did not go as he had planned. In the first three matches of the tournament, he was out for zero consecutively, due to which he was severely criticized. Some people even started raising questions on his place in the playing eleven.

Abhishek was out for zero against America, Pakistan and Netherlands. The Indian openers were disappointed after being out without opening the account three times in a row. He was on the verge of emotional breakdown, but the senior players in the dressing room encouraged him. Abhishek shared his experience of T20 World Cup in India Today Conclave. He told what advice head coach Gautam Gambhir, captain Suryakumar Yadav and all-rounder Hardik Pandya gave after being out on zero for the third time. He was asked to remove all social media apps from his phone so that he does not get distracted by fans' comments.

“Slowly you get used to it. But when there is criticism, it feels bad. This is bound to happen in India, because people have a lot of expectations from you. When I made Shoonya three times, Surya, Jiji sir and Hardik Pandya came to me and said, 'Hold the phone, remove social media right now'.”

He further said, “That's the first thing I did after getting out on zero for the third time. It helped me a bit. I was getting a lot of advice and comments from people. That's the life of a cricketer. You have to listen and take criticism. You can just listen and ignore, because people have a lot of expectations from you. Sometimes you live up to the expectations, sometimes not. I expected it.”

Abhishek scored his first runs in the next match against South Africa and scored a half-century against Zimbabwe. His low scores against West Indies and England remained a cause for concern. Abhishek's brilliant performance came at the right time. In the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand, he scored a quick 52 runs in 21 balls. The 98-run opening partnership with Sanju Samson laid the foundation for India's big victory.