It’s T-9. Team India’s road to the 2026 T20 World Cup comes closer and closer. The Men in Blue are just nine matches from starting their title defence against the USA in Mumbai on February 7.
Since lifting the cup in Barbados, India has lost just 4 T20I matches. Without a doubt, India is the best T20I team in the world and the favourites to defend their title at home. But the Suryakumar Yadav-led side still has to plug some holes. In fact, if fitness persists, India will have to sort out just two spots.
Shubman Gill’s rough patch
The second opener will be one of them. Abhishek Sharma isn’t just the best opener but the best batter in the world. Eye test, ranking, and stats all prove that. The issue has been his partner. Shubman Gill has been reassigned the role, starting with the 2025 Asia Cup, but his performance hasn’t been up to par.
Sanju Samson, who was the opener from July 2024 to August 2025, has been displaced as opener to accommodate Gill, who was the incumbent after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired. However, since returning, Gill hasn’t been able to justify the recall. He hasn’t scored a fifty, and it’s been 13 innings now.
Shubman Gill T20I stats as opener (from July 1, 2024 onwards)
MatchesRunsHighestScoreAverageStrikeRate100s50s205066631.62136.3802His strike rate remains a concern as well. India and Gill have 9 matches to sort it out. If they don’t, you’ll walk into the T20 World Cup with an in-form opener in Gill, and his backup wouldn’t have started the innings in the last 6 innings.
Stick with Jitesh Sharma
Since Samson has been dropped, Jitesh Sharma has replaced him. The 32-year-old is a proven finisher; he’s been part of the setup for a couple of years now and was one of the biggest surprises in the Indian Premier League 2025 season. The issue with Jitesh isn’t performance but lack of game time.
The wicketkeeper has batted just 3 times for India in 2025. Even in 2024, Jitesh played just twice. He needs to be given a chance to prove himself down the order, which means India can’t drop him now. He must be played if the management thinks he’s in their best XI and can’t be dropped for Samson under any circumstances.
India schedule until T20 World Cup 2026
MatchDateVenueTimeIndia vs South Africa 2nd T20IDecember 11Mullanpur, Chandigarh7 PM ISTIndia vs South Africa 3rd T20IDecember 14HPCA, Dharamsala7 PM ISTIndia vs South Africa 4th T20IDecember 17Ekana CricketStadium, Lucknow7 PM ISTIndia vs South Africa 5th T20IDecember 19Narendra ModiStadium, Ahmedabad7 PM ISTIndia vs New Zealand 1st T20IJanuary 21Vidarbha Cricket AssociationStadium, Nagpur7 PM ISTIndia vs New Zealand 2nd T20IJanuary 23Shaheed Veer Narayan SinghInternational Stadium, Raipur7 PM ISTIndia vs New Zealand 3rd T20IJanuary 25Barsapara Cricket Stadium,Guwahati7 PM ISTIndia vs New Zealand 4th T20IJanuary 28ACA-VDCA CricketStadium, Visakhapatnam7 PM ISTIndia vs New Zealand 5th T20IJanuary 31Greenfield InternationalStadium, Thiruvananthapuram7 PM ISTIndia looks to resolve opener & keeper conundrum in Mullanpur with 9 T20Is to go for T20 World Cup 2026 Inside Sport India.
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