Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], February 21 (ANI): Indian men's T20I team captain Suryakumar Yadav backed the out-of-form batter Abhishek Sharma ahead of the team's first Super 8 fixture of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, against South Africa on Sunday at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.

India's swashbuckling opening batter, Abhishek, has played three matches in the group-stage of the T20 World Cup 2026 and is yet to score a run. The left-handed batter has registered three consecutive ducks in the marquee tournament.

Despite his poor form, the Men in Blue captain, speaking at the pre-match press conference, has backed Abhishek Sharma ahead of their Super 8 clash against South Africa on Sunday.

When asked about whether he is worried about Abhishek's form, the Men in Blue captain said he is worried about people who are stressing over the opening batter's form.

Suryakumar suggested that lean patches come and go in cricket and that the team currently needs Abhishek to play true to his identity. Suryakumar also added that Abhishek Sharma 'covered' for the rest of the Indian batters last year, and this time around, it's others' turn to cover for him.

'Abhishek's form -- I think the people who are worried about his form, I worry for them. So far, he hasn't scored runs, but when he does, you've seen what happens. It's a team sport; these phases come and go. Right now, the team needs him to play with his identity, and he's trying to do that. If it comes off, great. If not, we're there to cover for him. Last year, he covered for us. This time, we'll do it for him,' Suryakumar Yadav said.

Speaking about the wickets in the T20 World Cup 2026 so far, Suryakumar Yadav said that the Indian team is 'ready to adapt' to any sort of wicket, noting that they have enough cricket to understand the type of cricket the team needs to play while batting during different stages of a match.

'I think we are ready to adapt to any sort of wickets. As you see from the first game, we have been playing on different kinds of wickets. When we started our campaign from Wankhede till the last league game, which we played, I think the wickets were not too challenging but a little tricky. But then at the end of the day, we played enough cricket to understand what kind of batting we need to do in post-powerplay and then take over and finish the game,' Suryakumar added.

Notably, India entered the Super 8 stage unbeaten as they defeated Pakistan, Netherlands, USA and Namibia in the league stage. South Africa, on the other hand, also arrived with a perfect record, having won all four of their group-stage matches. (ANI)