Ahmedabad, March 8 – After playing a crucial role in India's T20 World Cup final victory against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, Abhishek Sharma revealed that unwavering faith from the team management helped him overcome a difficult phase during the tournament.
Reflecting on his struggles with form earlier in the competition, Abhishek admitted he had moments of self-doubt. "Of course, but the one thing that was very clear was that the coach and the captain had faith in me. And even I was doubting myself because it wasn't an easy tournament for me. I had never experienced this before, but still playing in the first World Cup," he said, speaking to the broadcasters after India secured a victory in the summit clash.
The young opener said the belief from captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir kept him motivated despite the lean run. "Everyone was so confident in me, that I was going to win one game, one big game, one big game. So I was just focusing on my process, but it wasn't that easy as a young player… going through this phase."
Abhishek also spoke emotionally about the support he received from teammates during the tournament. "I think I just loved this team, the way they treated me in those days. It was… I've never felt it before."
The 23-year-old said the pressure of expectations weighed on him, especially after performing well through the year leading up to the tournament. "It wasn't that easy for me because, you know, going through the whole year, you've been doing well for the team… but on the big occasion I wasn't able to do well."
However, the constant reassurance from the leadership group proved decisive. "The faith and the confidence that the players and the support staff and coaches showed in me… I think I got emotional in between the tournament as well because if you see that I wanted to do really well in all the games probably, but I couldn’t."
Abhishek revealed that, instead of waiting for him to approach them, the team leadership consistently reached out to him. "I wanted to talk to the coach or the captain. They always wanted to come to me and just say one thing — you are, you're going to win us the big games."
That belief, he said, stayed with him until the moment finally arrived. "I just wanted to wait for that day and you can't ask for a better day for this."
His explosive knock in the final ultimately justified the faith shown in him, helping India clinch a historic third T20 World Cup title.