Abhishek Sharma’s recent struggles put him in focus as India may test bench strength against Netherlands in T20 World Cup 2026. Check India’s likely playing XI.
World No. 1 T20I batsman Abhishek Sharma has not scored any runs in four of the last six T20I games for Team India.
The top-ranked T20I team India will compete against the Netherlands in their fourth match of Group A at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 on Wednesday (February 18). As India has already secured a spot in the Super 8s by winning their initial three Group A matches, the outcome of the game against the Dutch team will not affect India’s future. For the game set to occur at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the Indian team management may implement several alterations to their playing XI.
Abhishek Sharma removed, 3 Players added? India’s Probable Playing XI For T20 World Cup 2026 Match Versus Netherlands
Prior to the Super 8 phase, India aims to evaluate their bench strength against the team led by Scott Edwards while also resting a few crucial players ahead of the challenging week to come.
Pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah, top-ranked T20I bowler Varun Chakaravarthy, and all-rounder Hardik Pandya might be rested for Wednesday’s match, with Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, and Washington Sundar anticipated to be included in the playing XI.
Siraj and Sundar play for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and have participated in several T20 matches at the Narendra Modi Stadium, while Arshdeep holds the record for the most wickets for India in T20Is.
Arshdeep participated in the initial two games of the T20 World Cup 2026 for India but was benched for the crucial match against Pakistan in Colombo on Sunday. Conversely, Siraj faced the United States of America in Mumbai on February 7 and also took three wickets.
In batting, the Indian team management is expected to maintain the same lineup despite Abhishek Sharma’s recent difficulties. Sharma, leading the ICC T20I batter’s rankings, has not scored even once in four of the last six matches. In the two T20 World Cup 2026 games against the USA and Pakistan, he recorded scores of 0 off 1 ball and 0 off 4 balls, respectively.
Tilak Varma and Axar Patel have struggled with batting up until now, yet they delivered strong performances with their bowling against Pakistan on Sunday. They want to secure some runs against the Netherland team.
India’s Probable playing XI Vs Netherlands: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma
