Predicting that Abhishek Sharma's form would be India's biggest worry heading into the Super Eights would have been the cricketing equivalent of crying wolf. Except, the wolf showed up.

India have secured four wins in as many games of the ongoing T20 World Cup and yet, not a run was needed off the bat of the No. 1 batter in the format. Three consecutive ducks later, Abhishek has ensured that even the most destructive batting line-up in the competition isn't at its flawless best.

Ryan ten Doeschate, India's assistant coach, has brushed aside this minor concern for the time being, at least publicly. "He batted really well last night in the nets, he spent 90 minutes batting," ten Doeschate said after India's 17-run win over Netherlands on Wednesday. "You also have to give him a bit of space. He came into the group phase not feeling too well, he spent a few days in the hospital and missed the game [against Namibia]. It's been a very disappointing tournament for him so far. But I saw some really good signs with his ball striking last night. So no worries about him, he'll be fine when the second phase comes."

It's understandable why Abhishek's inability to buy a run in this competition isn't alarming. Firstly, he has entered the tournament at the back of a prolific run of a year and a half, which has powered him to the top of the ranking list in the world. Secondly, there is no specific pattern to his dismissals even as both USA and Pakistan admitted to having spent a fair amount of time plotting the southpaw's fall.

He well-timed a loft off Ali Khan to deep cover, mistimed a pull off Salman Agha to mid on, and missed a pull against Aryan Dutt to get cleaned up. No pattern really.

Given that the rest of the batters have chipped in at various points, Abhishek's struggles haven't come to bother the team as yet, much like what has happened on most days when Abhishek has failed to take off. Ishan Kishan's rampage against Pakistan ensured that Abhishek's early dismissal wasn't a cause of concern. Earlier, in similar rare early dismissals, Sanju Samson stroked centuries against Bangladesh and South Africa when Abhishek didn't click.

India's dominant run in T20Is have come at the back of his early control seized by the openers. On the surface, all the players who have occupied the opening slots since the last World Cup, have fared reasonably well, enough to ensure that the big boots of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli weren't hard to fill, and even for the sake of nostalgia, their presence hasn't been missed.

But lift the rug slightly, and there's a lot more swept under it than you'd realise. The individual brilliance of the openers - Abhishek, Sanju Samson, Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Yashasvi Jaiswal - has overshadowed the reality that India haven't been getting good opening stands in this period of dominance where they have won nearly 80 percent of their games. Much pressure for that control has fallen on the shoulders of the No. 3s - Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma and the likes, especially in the phase when Suryakumar Yadav too was struggling.