IND vs NED: Why did Sanju Samson miss T20 World Cup 2026 match 36?

Sanju Samson has played only one game in the T20 World Cup 2026 so far.

India and Netherlands are battling in match 36 of the T20 World Cup 2026, which got underway on February 18 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The IND vs NED game is the last game for India in the Group stage and the ultimate clash for the Netherlands in the tournament.

The Men-in-Blue have already qualified for the Super 8, winning their first three games in a row. On the other hand, the Netherlands have been eliminated from the 20-team tournament. The toss favoured India as Suryakumar Yadav won it and opted to bat first.

At the toss, he also informed that India made two changes to their playing XI, replacing Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel with Arshdeep Singh and Washington Sundar, respectively. Notably, as the result of the game will not hamper India’s progress in the tournament, many fans expected Sanju Samson to play in the clash, as Abhishek Sharma is not in good form.

However, he was not part of India’s playing XI. He has played just one game- India’s second game against Namibia, where he was dismissed for 22 runs.

Why is Sanju Samson not playing against the Netherlands?

Notably, India have retained both openers Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan for the clash against the Netherlands. Despite IND vs NED being a dead rubber and Abhishek’s batting woes so far, Sanju Samson was overlooked for the clash.

Speaking about the decision to bat first, Suryakumar said,”We are going to bat first. Looks a good surface, we practiced here last night, there was a little bit of dew, so hopefully we get runs on the board and try and defend it because we’re going to play the game on a similar strip 2 or 3 days later, so why not put bowlers under a little bit of pressure”.

Revealing the changes made by India, he added,”Every game there’s someone or the other raising their hand, taking the fight out, so it’s good to see. Hopefully a new Man of the Match tonight and then we go into the Super 8. We have two changes – Arshdeep comes in for Kuldeep, Axar is resting and Washington comes in”.

Below are the playing XI of India and the Netherlands for the 36th match of the T20 World Cup 2026.

India (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan(w), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.

Netherlands (Playing XI): Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (w/c), Zach Lion-Cachet, Noah Croes, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.