India breezed past Namibia to secure their second consecutive win in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, registering a 93-run victory, their biggest-ever in the tournament’s history. Sanjay Bangar shared his thoughts on the Indian batters’ performance against spin in the tournament and the possible changes to India’s playing XI against Pakistan.
Sanjay Bangar explained possible changes in India’s playing eleven against Pakistan:
“I do think that India will beef up their spin attack because when they played Pakistan in the 50-over Champions Trophy, they used four spinners. Going by that, India clearly feel that the Pakistani batsmen can have trouble facing spin. So, I would certainly back the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav in place of one of the seamers, and that seamer will have to be Arshdeep Singh.”
On whether playing spin has been an issue for Indian batters:
“Yes, in the first two matches of this World Cup, India have lost wickets to spin in the middle overs. But I think that could also be because they were batting first and were expected to score in excess of 200–220 runs. However, in the game against Pakistan, I believe they will assess the conditions much better. Their shot selection on a bigger ground could be slightly different. So, I don’t see that pattern being repeated against Pakistan. They will bat in a different fashion, perhaps rotate the strike more and look to run plenty of twos and threes, because the ground in Colombo is quite big.”
On Jasprit Bumrah’s utilisation in the first two games:
“Wherever you utilise Jasprit Bumrah, he is obviously going to add value. But I feel that he could be used right at the start to try and get early wickets and make early inroads into the opposition. Wickets in the Powerplay count for a lot, especially against stronger opponents like Pakistan. So, I am expecting Bumrah to open the bowling against Pakistan.”
