The Indian cricket team will enter the T20 World Cup 2026 as defending champions. The expectations will be high from the Men in Blue, who’ll try to become the first team to defend the title. Playing at home is a definite advantage, but it will also come with added pressure. India have been on a rampage in T20 cricket and will be the hot favourites to win the title.
But winning a World Cup requires a lot more effort than winning a bilateral series, and everything from selections to performances needs to be spot on. India are placed in Group A along with Pakistan, Namibia, the Netherlands and the USA, and will open the campaign against the USA on February 7.
Strongest India Playing XI For T20 World Cup
As said, India need to be impeccable in selections to give themselves the best chance to win the T20 World Cup 2026. Here is how India’s best XI could look.
India have played as an opener, but Samson has been mediocre at the top. He failed to make an impact in the T20I series against New Zealand. If he fails to fire in the final T20I, it would be fair on India to play Ishan Kishan ahead of him as an opener. Ishan was brilliant in the T20I series against New Zealand and played a few crisp innings. The other opener will be Abhishek Sharma, who has been a force to reckon with in T20Is.
Tilak Varma will return to No.3, having missed the T20I series against New Zealand due to injury. Captain Suryakumar Yadav will bat at four, followed by Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube. Suryakumar Yadav returned to form against New Zealand and brought relief to the Indian camp. Pandya and Dube are like-to-like players, but given how they have performed, it would make sense to play both in the XI. Axar Patel will be the spin all-rounder, while Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh will be specialist seamers. Varun Chakravarthy will play ahead of Kuldeep Yadav as a specialist spinner to complete a very strong team.
Strongest India Playing XI For T20 World Cup 2026: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Rinku Singh/Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh