Harbhajan Singh slams Mohammad Amir for slogger jibe at Abhishek Sharma; ‘he’ll be in your dreams for next six months’

Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh blasted Mohammad Amir for the latter's slogger jibe at Abhishek Sharma, just hours before the high-voltage India vs Pakistan clash in the T20 World Cup 2026. Ahead of the marquee clash, Amir, who has retired twice for Pakistan, questioned Abhishek's batting credentials on a live TV show, stating his chances of failure are high.

Amir's comments came after Abhishek was dismissed for a first-ball duck against the United States of America (USA) during India's T20 world Cup 2026 opener in Mumbai. “If you ask me honestly, by whatever little I have seen, I feel he is just a slogger. He has to go hard at every ball. The day he gets going, it’s fine; otherwise, uske failure ke chances zyaada hain (The chances of his failure are high)," Amir told in a Pakistani chat show ‘Haarna Mana Hai’.

In response to Amir, Harbhajan didn't mince any words just hours before the marquee clash. Defending Abhishek, Harbhajan opined that Abhishek is far from a one-dimensional player and has every shot in his book.

“Come on — what am I supposed to say to that? He just gets up and says anything. If you call him a slogger, fine, let him smash sixes, but he’s a proper batter who has every shot in the book,” Harbhajan started. The 45-year-old reminded that Abhishek can play over cover, through point, long-on, long-off, midwicket and it would be silly to tag him a "slogger" after than.

“If I start naming real sloggers, some people might get offended, but I don’t want to create more drama. Calling anyone just a slogger isn’t fair. Abhishek is a top-class batter who has already proven himself in world cricket,” added Harbhajan. Just wait and watch. If Abhishek stays at the crease, he’ll remind everyone who he is. If he goes big tomorrow, he’ll be in your dreams for the next six months,” concluded the former Indian off-spinner.

Abhishek batted against spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy first up, smashing both the spinners to the far corners of R Premadasa Stadium. Once finished batting against spinners, the 25-year-old shifted to the left-side nets to tackle pacers and did an equally fluent job, carting his teammates and local bowlers with sheer abandon.