ICC T20 World Cup 2026 | Rejuvenated India face West Indies in virtual quarter-final

India face West Indies in a virtual quarter-final in the T20 World Cup at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. The winner of the encounter will face England on March 5 in England.

The hosts will be relieved that their batting has finally delivered when they registered the tournament's highest score of 256 runs against Zimbabwe.

The Suryakumar Yadav-led squad added Sanju Samson to the top of the order, while moving Ishan Kishan to No. 3 and bringing back Axar Patel, who delivered with the ball almost immediately.

The team will also take note of Abhishek Sharma's return to form. Before the blazing half-century in the previous match, the opener had registered three ducks in each of his first three innings before scoring 15 runs against South Africa.

Another massive positive for India was that Tialk Varma, who struggled at No. 3, thrived at No. 6 with a cameo towards the end. His innings of 44 from just 16 balls propelled India past 250. Hardik Pandya also flexed his muscles with a quickfire half century towards the end.

Bowling woes

While earlier, the batting had plenty of problems, the match against Zimbabwe exposed bowling woes.

Ace spinner Varun Chakravarthy has seen a dip in form even as Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel continue to flourish. The mystery spinner has been picked up by the batters and has seemingly struggled with his lines and length.

His growing ineffectiveness hurt India badly against South Africa, where he conceded 47 runs in four overs as David Miller and Dewald Brevis attacked the bowler.

Varun was found erring on both the shorter and fuller sides of the pitch against both South Africa and Zimbabwe.

However, a breather at this critical stage of the tournament to try left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has played only against Pakistan, remains unlikely.

All-rounder Shivam Dube was erratic in his two-over spell against Zimbabwe, bowling a 10-ball over and conceding 46 runs.

The West Indies threat

The West Indies have boasted of one of the most powerful batting lineups in the tournament. They have a clear strategy to have steady start and then go all-out in the back end with an army of power hitters.

However, this was exposed by South Africa, who reduced them to 83/7 in 11 overs. The team staged a stunning comeback to post a fighting total of 176/8, including a half-century by Romario Shephard at No. 9.

Further Shmron Hetmyer's move to No. 3 has yielded immediate results.

With a dry Eden surface on offer, West Indies might consider bringing back left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, who was dropped after returning 3/28 against Zimbabwe at the turning Wankhede.

Teams (from):

India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

West Indies: Shai Hope (c), Johnson Charles, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, and Jayden Seales.