T20 World Cup 2026: India's playing XI dilemma - more of the same or is it time to bring Sanju Samson in?

TimesofIndia.com in Chennai: It was business as usual for the Indian cricket team which held an intense practice session at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday. The batters had long hits, bowlers remained in rhythm with extended spells and later returned to flex their muscles with a round of range hitting. The only unusual event of the session was Rinku Singh's absence.

As TimesofIndia.com earlier reported the left-hander has rushed back home to be by his ailing father's side and there is no clarity on his return yet. Not because of Rinku's absence but discussions must have already been held, and will continue to be held, regarding the ideal batting combination for the crucial clash against Zimbabwe on February 26.



Having been thrashed in their first Super Eight game to South Africa in Ahmedabad, India are under immense pressure to fix its batting for the remainder of the tournament. The discussion, as expected, revolves around breaking the left-handers' pattern in the batting order.

India have an overflow of southpaws in the mix and the oppositions have cracked the code by using off-spin effectively against the Men in Blue. One of the first batters to hit the nets, like in Ahmedabad, was wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson and it remains to be seen whether the thinktank injects him into the top-order.

The trio of Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma has yet to collectively fire and consistent poor starts have the management in a fix. Do they send an out-of-form Samson back to the top order, or do they reshuffle the batting order by promoting Surya? No possibility can be ruled out at this stage and even the net session pointed in that direction. Both Tilak and Surya batted together and when the left-hander was batting, coach Gautam Gambhir and senior player Jasprit Bumrah kept a close watch from behind the nets.

The two batters exchanged their usual fist-pumps every time they swapped ends. The Indian captain kept his younger partner in good spirits while they remained out for over an hour - facing a lot of spin before moving to the other net which had a mix of net bowlers and Indian seamers Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj.

Bumrah was present but, like in Ahmedabad, he preferred a skill-based session with Morne Morkel in the practice nets. The bowler consistently attacked the stumps and got constant feedback from the coach during his short, intense spell, which lasted no more than 20 minutes. India's session lasted over four hours before the groundstaff returned to treating the practice pitches and generously watered the square.

The playing surface will be a centre wicket and it's expected to be different from the sluggish surfaces we have seen in the tournament so far. Batters would definitely enjoy their time in the middle and dew could be a big talking point. Two days before the game, there was excessive dew around 9pm when the Indian team applied finishing touches to their session. It hasn't been a big factor during India's games and the Men in Blue could experience it if they field second.

The eve of the match is expected to be a low-key affair for the defending champions as they are scheduled to have an afternoon session while Zimbabwe trains under lights. Only four players trained under the unforgiving sun in Ahmedabad, and similar attendance is expected on Wednesday. The press-conference is expected to give some hints regarding the playing XI, which currently doesn't look like an open-and-shut case.


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