IND vs NZ 2026: ‘With Abhishek Sharma, this is going to happen’ – Former Indian captain’s huge remark after opener’s golden duck in 4th T20I

Abhishek Sharma, who notched up two half-centuries in the first three T20Is against New Zealand, registered a golden duck in the fourth game on Wednesday, January 28, at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.

Chasing a daunting 216-run total, India needed Abhishek to fire at the top of the order. The in-form opener charged down the track off the first ball of the innings and tried to slash Matt Henry square on the off-side for a maximum. However, he sliced the ball instead of middling it, and Devon Conway took a well-judged catch, running in from third man.

This was a huge blow for India, as they were not only chasing a mammoth target, but were also playing with a batter short after Arshdeep Singh replaced Ishan Kishan, who missed out due to a niggle. After the Men in Blue were bowled out for 165, former India captain Ajinkya Rahane said that Abhishek would have such days every now and then because he plays an ultra-aggressive brand of cricket. Rahane also stated that having one fewer batter in this game made a huge difference for the hosts.

“With Abhishek Sharma, this is going to happen. He plays a high-risk game. When it comes off, he’ll be a match-winner—we all know that. But there will be times when he gets out for zero, even first ball. That can happen in a World Cup. I thought the Indian batting today wasn’t dependent on Abhishek Sharma alone. Collectively, they were very good. They played with seven batters, and you could clearly see the difference that having seven instead of eight makes in a side,” Rahane said while speaking on Cricbuzz.

With the comprehensive 50-run win, Mitchell Santner’s New Zealand finally got off the mark in the five-match series. The Asian giants have a 3-1 lead, with the final game set to be played at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.