T20 World Cup 2026: Amir doubles down on criticism of Abhishek after another poor show

Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir continued his criticism of Indian opener Abhishek Sharma after the batter’s latest failure against England in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final. Amir, who had earlier labelled Sharma a slogger, doubled down on his remarks following another underwhelming performance.

Sharma has endured a difficult run in the tournament, managing only one half-century, which came against Zimbabwe. The left-handed batter has also registered three consecutive ducks and has crossed the 20-run mark only once in the competition. In the semi-final against England, Sharma scored just nine runs before being dismissed by Will Jacks. Commenting on the struggling opener’s form, Amir said that ICC tournaments often expose technical weaknesses, as players have very little room to hide flaws against top-quality opposition.

"Look, there is a world of difference between a bilateral series and an ICC event. In a series, teams maybe don’t focus in the same way; they think, okay, in this series we have to try out players, that’s where their focus is, and they don’t mark players that intensely. But when you come into ICC events, every team marks every player they are going to face,” said Amir on Geo News.

“By now, everyone has figured out which are Abhishek Sharma’s strong areas and which are his weak zones. You can see he gets stuck even against off-spinners, and when a fast bowler comes in and keeps targeting his body with the ball, he struggles. So to perform in international cricket, especially in big events, you have to be very strong technically and mentally," he added.

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Amir contrasted Abhishek’s struggles with the success of Sanju Samson, highlighting the difference in approach between the two batters. He conceded that modern T20 cricket demands versatility, and players who rely only on power-hitting often get exposed at the highest level.

"Now, why is Sanju Samson performing? Because if you look at his background, first look at his technique, then look at his first-class career, then his IPL career, he can play all around the wicket. A one-dimensional player, as I said at the start, doesn’t work in T20 anymore. You have to play all around,” said Amir.

“Look at Bethell's innings: when the spinner comes on, he is reverse-hitting him as well; off the first two balls, he hit two sixes to Varun Chakravarthy, and off the third ball, he hit a six with a reverse sweep. Win might get caught out as well, I feel; Win doesn’t play all around, but he has one or two shots in every area. But now one-dimensional players simply cannot survive in cricket; you have to play in every direction, you need 360-degree players," he added.