Mohammad Amir attacks 'one-dimensional' Abhishek Sharma again amid T20 World Cup 2026 slump; ‘simply cannot survive…’

Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir attacked Abhishek Sharma once again, calling the young Indian opener “one-dimensional” player. Amir's remarks came after Abhishek once again flopped in the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal against England in Mumbai the previous night.

One of the most destructive batters in T20Is currently, Abhishek has been off-colour prior to the tournament. The left-hander started the t20 world Cup 2026 with three consecutive ducks before scores of 15, 55, 10 and 9 summed up his maiden ICC tournament with a game to go.

Against England, Abhishek started with two boundaries before a half-hearted flick off Will Jacks went straight to Phil Salt at the mid-on boundary. Explaining Abhishek's weaknesses, Amir cited the examples of Jacob Bethell and Sanju Samson, emphasizing on the need to play all around the wicket.

“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,” Amir told Geo News after India's semifinal win over England.

"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. But now one-dimensional players simply cannot survive in cricket; you have to play in every direction, you need 360-degree players," asserted the former pacer.

Amir remarked that every team comes into an ICC tournament with plans or each and every player in the opposition. He pointed out that Abhishek is getting stuck against the off-spinners and is also struggling when fast-bowlers are targeting his body.

"So to perform in international cricket, especially in big events, you have to be very strong technically and mentally," Amir added. With a final to go, India would want Abhishek to fire, just as he did against Zimbabwe, laying India's platform for a 250-plus score in Chennai.

However, Amir later clarified that his "slogger" remark came from a bowler's perspective. “By whatever little I have seen, if you ask me honestly, I feel he is just a slogger… I don’t think he is technically sound. He just stands there and wants all balls to be bowled in a particular area. I will consider him a proper batter only when I see that the ball is swinging even slightly and he tackles it well.” Amir had said on TV show Haarna Maana Hae.