Team India celebrate their Asia Cup triumph.
Credit: Reuters Photo
The BCCI is set to announce the team India squad for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, which is less than two months away, on Saturday (December 20).
The defending champions have continued their top form in the shortest format, having not lost a single series, including a dominant Asia Cup. In fact, the Suryakumar Yadav-led team has lost only four matches since the previous World Cup.
With such a record, one would imagine that the team has a settled unit, with no major surprises expected as the team braces to defend their title.
However, India boost such a dominant record despite having tinkered consistently with their batting order.
The opening conundrum
While World No.1 Abhishek Sharma has sealed one of the opening slots, Sanju Samson seemed to have sealed his place at the top of the order with three centuries in 2024. However, a dip in form against England earlier this year meant that Test skipper Shubman Gill was slotted in the team for the Asia Cup. He was even given the team vice-captaincy.
This meant that the Kerala-based wicketkeeper had to move down the order. The move has not exactly yielded results as Gill has gone 18 T20I innings without a half-century. His best of 47 came against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, but does not have anything noteworthy otherwise. Switching Samson's position meant that he had a tough time adapting to the middle-order dynamics and was subsequently dropped from the team.
With Gill's poor form, it remains to be seen if Samson is brought back to the top of the order. Additionally, Ishan Kishan slammed more than 500 runs at a strike rate of 197 for Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, leading his team to its maiden T20 title. There is an outside chance that the explosive wicketkeeper could make it to the squad.
Middle-order muddle
India played Rishabh Pant at No.3 in the T20 World Cup and the wicketkeeper has not played a single match in the format since.
India has tried eight different players in the slot after the previous tournament. The most successful of whom has been Tilak Varma. The Hyderabad-based batter slammed two centuries against South Africa batting at No.3 but has been moved around since the England series in January this year.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav's form has been a major concern, with the batter averaging just 15 this year. Shivam Dube and Jitesh Sharma have played cameos but have not had large contributions with the bat.
“I think in a one-day format, you should know the template that you want to play with. I’ve always believed that in white-ball cricket, batting orders are very overrated, except the opening combination,” head coach Gautam Gambhir had said at the start of the ongoing South Africa series.
However, the lack of a consistent batting order has meant that India has suffered batting collapses, which the team cannot afford on a the big World Cup stage. Such was even the case in the Asia Cup final where Tilak Varma's innings guided India home in the last over.
All-rounders over bowlers?
The bowling unit is relatively settled compared to the batting. However, even with the bowling, the question about batting depth will continue. It would be almost impossible to play all of Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy if the batting is to be extended till No.8. This would pave way for all-rounders like Axar Patel or Harshit Rana along with Hardik Pandya.
With only 15 player allowed in squad, Washington Sundar, given his all-round credentials could pip Rinku Singh.
India's probable 15
Suryakumar Yadav (c) Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (wk) Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar.