India vs Pakistan, T20 World Cup, Colombo:Abhishek Sharma, who was down with a stomach infection and was reportedly admitted to a hospital on Wednesday, is likely to be fit ahead of the high-voltage clash against Pakistan scheduled to take place at theR.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Sunday, February 15, 2026. According to several reports in the media, it is learnt that he has been recovering well, although there has been no official statement made regarding his participation against the Men in Green on Sunday. Abhishek missed the match against Namibia and was replaced by Sanju Samson in the playing XI.
Now, there is a video that has gone viral on social media, where he is heard saying, 'Dal Rice good, me very good,' when asked how he was feeling, seem to be suggesting that his recovery is headed in the right direction. He further revealed that he has lost 2 kg since hospitalisation. Abhishek continues to be a vital cog in the Indian batting line-up and is known to set the tempo of the match, making life easier for the Indian middle-order. His availability for the high-voltage match is an ominous sign for Pakistan, powerful enough to throw their plans into complete disarray. At the Super Fours in the Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai, while chasing a target of 172, the 25-year-old smashed the daylights out of the Pakistan attack, leaving them completely clueless as he raced to 74 in 39 balls, reducing the rest of the match to a mere formality after being dismissed.
While Abhishek's credential as a T20 batter is well documented through his exploits with the bat in the recent past, former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir seems to have made the cardinal sin of firing him up ahead of the India clash by calling him ' just a slogger.' The left-hander is a tried and tested player in the T20Is, and in case Amir has forgotten what he did to Pakistan in Dubai on September 21, 2025, someone ought to remind him. That hammering isn't even a year old.
“By whatever little I have seen, if you ask me honestly, I feel he is just a slogger. He has to go hard at every ball. The day he gets going, it’s fine; otherwise, uske failure ke chances zyaada hain (The chances of his failure are high). He scores once in 8 innings. Otherwise, his scores are 10, 15, 0 and 20. I don’t think he is technically sound. He just stands there and wants all balls to be bowled in a particular area. This is my honest opinion. I am also saying the day he gets going, he will score big. He can hurt the other team. But he has a high-risk game. I will consider him a proper batter only when I see that the ball is swinging even slightly and he tackles it well and smashes with the same velocity,” Amir said on the show ‘Haarna Mana Hai’.
Former Australia World Cup-winning captain Aaron Finch reckons that the 25-year-old left-hander is an asset to any team in the world in T20s and his ability to attack from ball one sets him apart from the rest of the batters. Some of us would like to believe that Finch knows a thing or two about cricket, and surely feels that the star Indian batter is a bit more than a 'slogger.'
"I think any team that has Abhishek Sharma in it is going to be better in T20 cricket. He's a superstar, and his ability to destroy an attack from ball one and keep going in a way that not many other players in the world, if any, can match, sets him apart. He's a superb player. So, as soon as he's well enough — and I really hope that he is, because I love watching him play — it was unfortunate to see that he spent some time in hospital unwell. I wish him a speedy recovery," Finch told IANS.
The weather is expected to be clear on Sunday, with no predictions of rain in the evening. India would aim to extend their record-breaking streak in Colombo, having already won ten consecutive T20 World Cup matches, going past Australia's eight that was spread across two editions - 2022 T20 World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup. Pakistan, on the other hand, would hope that the 'slogger slur doesn't reach Abhishek', and India continue to fret over his fitness. A fit Abhishek spending any length of time at the crease would mean curtains for the Salman Ali Agha-led side.
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