3 things which India need to change to win ICC T20 World Cup 2026

India will play their opening game of ICC T20 World Cup 2026 against USA.

The Indian Cricket Team are on the road to ICC T20 World Cup 2026. The mega event is all set to be played in India and Sri Lanka from February 7  to March 8 and the Suryakumar Yadav-led side is currently engaged in the T20I series against South Africa. 

Till the last series, India looked all set for the ICC T20 World Cup next year, but since the last few games they have looked shaky which has raised concerns among the fans. After this, only the series against New Zealand is left and India have very less time to rectify the errors. 

Gautam Gambhir and his management need to look into some areas and if they don’t, it will be tough for India to defend their title. In this piece, we take a look at 3 things which India need to change to win the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

Things India need to change to win the ICC T20 World Cup 2026

1. Pick Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson as openers

India were highly successful when they opened with Sanju Samson. The keeper-batter was given the opportunity for a handful of games but he made most of them and racked up three centuries. His pairing with Abhishek Sharma at the top gelled well for India and they were a major reason why India looked balanced.

However, since the comeback of Shubman Gill in the T20I side, Sanju Samson hasn’t been assigned a defined batting number. He batted in the middle order in a few games and after that was dropped from the XI. If India needs to peak at the right time, they need to bring Samson back at the top along with Abhishek.

2. Drop Shubman Gill from the playing XI

It is very hard to fathom that a player of Shubman Gill’s calibre isn’t able to score runs in T20Is. When he was back in the side, it was almost certain he would ace the opening slot. However, his continuous failures are not working for India as well as Gill.

In the last 14 T20Is, he has managed just 263 runs at an average of around 23 and a strike rate of over 142. His scores read: 20* (9), 10 (7), 5 (8), 47 (28), 29 (19), 4 (3), 12 (10), 37* (20), 5 (10), 15 (12), 46 (39), 29* (16), 4 (2), 0 (1). The team management needs to take a serious call as they cannot go into ICC T20 World Cup 2026 with a player who isn’t in form. Hence, he needs to make way for someone, in particular Yashasvi Jaiswal.

3. Have a fixed batting order

One of the things that is putting the Indian team under pressure is their batting order. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and his management aren’t a fan of fixed batting order and apart from openers no one knows where he will bat. In the second T20I against South Africa, Axar Patel batted at three and it left many shocked. 

The consistent batting order has been there since Gautam Gambhir took over the charge. Although, it has brought success, it seems that management is fixing something which wasn’t broken. This takes away the confidence of the players as no one is sure of their place in the side. To head into ICC T20 World Cup 2026, there needs to be a fixed batting order otherwise it will trouble them in the tournament. 

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