Abhishek Sharma, who was out of form before the T20 World Cup 2026 final, made a 2024 Kohli-type comeback in the final and smashed the fastest fifty of the edition, helping India to win their 3rd T20 World Cup title.
Now the left-handed batter has revealed that he played with Shivam Dube’s bat in the final against New Zealand.
Abhishek Sharma reveals he played with Shivam Dube's bat in T20 World Cup final
Cricket has seen many superstitious moments over the years, and one such incident happened in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 final. Abhishek Sharma, who had struggled with form throughout the tournament, decided to use Shivam Dube’s bat in the final, as his best friend, Shubman Gill, was not in the squad.
The change seemed to work perfectly, as Abhishek went on to play an amazing innings in the most important match of the tournament. It became one of those memorable cricket moments where superstition appeared to bring luck on the biggest stage.
Abhishek Sharma revealed that he played with Shivam Dube’s bat, saying, "Today I batted with Shivam Dube’s bat, so thank you, Dube,” Abhishek said. “In the morning, I felt like trying something different. Shubman was not around, so I walked up to Dube and picked up his bat.”
Abhishek Sharma scored an 18-ball fifty in the game, providing a great start to the team in the final. Notably, this is the fastest fifty in the World Cup. The left-hander has scored a total of 52 runs off 21 balls, including 6 fours and 3 sixes. Thanks to his innings, along with Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan's half-centuries, India put up a massive total of 255 in the final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Chasing this massive target, New Zealand got all out on 159, and India won the match by 96 runs.
Abhishek Sharma scored 141 runs in 8 innings in this T20 World Cup 2026 with an average of 17.62 and a strike rate of 158.42, including 2 half-centuries against Zimbabwe and New Zealand.
