Abhishek Sharma Struggles Continue as SRH Faces LSG in IPL 2026
Abhishek Sharma's Ongoing Struggles
The batting difficulties for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Indian opener Abhishek Sharma persist, as he finds himself alongside notable players Rohit Sharma and Sanju Samson in a concerning statistic: the most ducks recorded by an Indian batsman in a single calendar year.
In a recent Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Abhishek fell for a two-ball duck, dismissed by Mohammed Shami. This marks his sixth duck in T20s for the year 2026, tying him with Rohit (six ducks in 2018) and Samson (six ducks in 2024) for the highest number of ducks by an Indian batter in T20s within a calendar year.
Abhishek's performance in IPL 2026 has been underwhelming, accumulating only 55 runs across three innings, with 48 of those runs scored against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in his most recent outing.
The world’s top-ranked batter also faced challenges during the T20 World Cup, where he managed just 141 runs in eight innings, averaging 17.62 with a strike rate exceeding 158, including two half-centuries, one of which was in the final. His tournament began with three consecutive ducks.
Overall, this year has been tough for Abhishek, who has tallied 378 runs in 16 T20 innings at an average of 25.20 and a strike rate above 195, featuring four fifties and a top score of 84.
In match 10 of IPL 2026, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) opted to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
LSG made a single change, introducing Manimaran Siddharth in place of Anrich Nortje. Meanwhile, SRH, under the temporary captaincy of Ishan Kishan, made two adjustments, bringing in Harshal Patel and Liam Livingstone.
SRH began their IPL 2026 journey with a loss to the reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the season opener, followed by a victory over Kolkata Knight Riders by 65 runs. LSG, on the other hand, is seeking their first win of the season after a six-wicket defeat to the Delhi Capitals in their last match.
Team Lineups
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (w/c), Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Singh Rathi, and Prince Yadav.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Liam Livingstone, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Jaydev Unadkat.