Abhishek Sharma was able to improve his ability to play against off-spin bowlers after he had struggled with these types of bowlers in the T20 World Cup of 2026. In that tournament, Abhishek’s average against off-spin bowlers was 10.6; however, since the tournament, Abhishek’s average against off-spin bowlers has increased to 42 in 14 innings for India, which is an indication of how much Abhishek has worked on his batting technique.
Salman Agha, Aryan Dutt and Will Jacks each dismissed Abhishek at the 2026 T20 World Cup. However, the Indian opening batsman is starting to play smarter when facing off-spinners as he watches the initial deliveries of a bowler’s spell to assess the pitch prior to attempting to hit big.
In Indore, West Indies off-spinner Roston Chase bowled first to Abhishek. At the beginning, Abhishek did not attack right away; instead, he was cautious. However, when Chase came back to bowl his second over, the left-handed batsman created space for himself and hit boundaries through the off-side.
A similar shift in strategy could be seen in India’s semi-final match against England. Instead of being stationary at the crease when facing Will Jacks, Abhishek attempted to advance down the wicket to create some space. While Abhishek did not succeed in advancing down the wicket (he got out) this was another indication of Abhishek attempting to develop different methods of dealing with off-spin.
The improvement made by Abhishek was particularly evident during the IPL. At that time, his average against off-spinners went up to 62 and his strike rate rose to 230. Simon Helmot, Assistant Coach for Sunrisers Hyderabad, stated that Abhishek had improved in terms of being able to assess the match situation prior to beginning to attack.
According to Helmot, Abhishek will occasionally take things slow at the beginning, taking a couple of balls to figure out how fast the pitch is playing and if there’s any turn in the ball. After he has established what type of surface he is dealing with, then he’ll make adjustments to his style of play and begin looking for ways to score.
Amit Uniyal, Abhishek’s head coach for the Punjab domestic cricket team, said that Abhishek is more aware of what to do based upon how the ball moves. Playing across the line of the ball when it moves away from you is always a gamble. Now, Abhishek looks at the amount of turn and makes a decision about what shot he will take. If there isn’t too much turn, he can go straight. If there is turn, he has the opportunity to hit over the covers.
Helmot stated that Abhishek Sharma is most effective at hitting the ball straight down the ground, through cover, and into the gap between cover and mid-wicket. If Abhishek anticipates receiving more spin, then he either alters his positioning with his feet or backs away from the ball to provide himself with additional space to hit the ball in other directions.
After the T20 World Cup, Abhishek was able to average 42 per inning with a 237 strike-rate in his 14 innings for India. In that time frame, he has been dismissed by off-spin bowlers on four separate occasions. Two of those dismissals were made by Roston Chase during the current series against West Indies.
Both dismissals against Chase demonstrated two different approaches to Abhishek’s growing game. He remained in his crease and attempted to hit over the top of the ball in Ranchi, only to be caught at mid-on. That same mistake was also made by Abhishek Sharma when he was having trouble hitting the ball at the World Cup.
In Lucknow, he created space to hit the ball in his favored attacking manner. However, the ball came off the toe of his bat and went directly into the hands of the long-off fielder. While this particular shot wasn’t successful for him in Lucknow, creating space has allowed him to get runs in several other games, including the IPL and the third T20I.
Helmot said that if you want to create space for yourself to hit the ball to an area of the field that isn’t covered by a fielder on the boundary, then you need to be in a position to do so. Abhishek can either move away from the ball or step inside of it, to hit the ball to various parts of the field.
Opponent teams have also attempted to limit the number of runs he scores by bowling close to his pad, as well as restricting his space to freely swing. At this point, Abhishek will need to identify areas where there are no players (gaps), instead of just hitting directly. According to Helmot, the batsman has the ability to understand how the field is positioned and find alternative methods to score even if the bowler is trying to limit him.
Although Abhishek has gained fame due to his aggressive style of batting, Helmot believes that Abhishek can be classified as a strategic batsman because of how well he understands the opposition’s tactics. In order to prepare himself for each bowler, Abhishek reviews each bowler’s plan, uses data to analyze the bowler’s tendencies, and discusses possible strategies with his fellow players.
After scoring 69 runs from 30 balls during the third T20I, Abhishek also emphasized how important preparing for matches is. He stated that in order to take advantage of the powerplay, you need to have a strategy in place which will be determined by the team you are playing against and the bowlers you may be facing. No matter if Abhishek has a week or only a few days to prepare for a match, he spends his time trying to understand the bowlers and finding methods of dominating those bowlers.
His dad, Raj Kumar Sharma, is also very certain that he can play off-spin. He thinks that Abhishek has many ways to score against this type of bowler and therefore doesn’t think they are a huge problem. He said that even when playing fast bowlers, you can be out, and this is just how it is in cricket.
Abhishek’s better statistics indicate that he has learned from his previous dismissals. He still plays aggressively but has also developed skills to evaluate the pitch, change how he moves his feet, and get ready for particular types of bowlers which have made him more successful when playing against off-spinners.