India cricket team batter Abhishek Sharma has opened up on how his teammates and coach motivated him after he registered three back-to-back ducks in the T20 World Cup 2026. The explosive opener got off to the worst possible start in the marquee event, failing to open his account in the first three matches that he featured in. Sharma has now revealed that he was advised by seniors SKY and Hardik Pandya along with coach Gautam Gambhir to chuck his phone aside and uninstall social media applications.

What Sharma was told to do after 3 consecutive ducks

Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Sharma said while he does feel bad due to criticism, he agrees that it is bound to happen as people in India have a lot of expectations from him. He revealed that SKY, GG and Pandya had asked him to take his phone and immediately delete all social media applications following his three back-to-back ducks. Abhishek said that it was the first thing he did after his third duck and that it helped him a lot.

“Slowly you get used to it. But it does feel bad when there is criticism. That is going to happen in India because people have a lot of expectations from you. After I scored three ducks, Surya, GG sir and Hardik Pandya came to me and said, ‘Phone pakad, social media hata abhi ke abhi’ [take your phone and uninstall social media right now],” Sharma mentioned.

After registering three consecutive ducks, Abhishek’s only effective contribution came in the Super 8 tie vs ZIM where he scored 55 runs. While there were murmurs about dropping him for the final, the team management decided to back him and it paid off. Sharma broke free from the shackles of poor form and delivered when it mattered the most with a 52-run knock in the final.