India secured their second consecutive victory in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 with an emphatic 93-run win over Namibia. Sunil Gavaskar and Parthiv Patel discussed Sanju Samson’s technical flaws, Kuldeep Yadav’s edge over Washington Sundar ahead of the Pakistan match and the required fixes in the death-over batting.
Sunil Gavaskar explained why Sanju Samson’s deep crease movement is causing him problems:
“Sanju Samson has a technical problem. He goes too deep in the crease and plays that flick shot. You can only hope he times it in the gap or it goes for a six. He needs to make improvements, especially when he opens against the new ball. Namibia were clever with their field placements. They set a field to get Samson out. But it was good that he hit some nice shots. That must have given him some confidence. If he plays the next match against Pakistan, he needs to spend more time at the crease.”
On India’s bowling decisions against Namibia and what they mean for the Pakistan clash:
“Captain Suryakumar Yadav was experimenting against Namibia with the Pakistan game in mind. Hardik bowling the first over suggests Arshdeep may not play in the next match against Pakistan. Varun Chakaravarthy bowled only two overs and would have taken five or six wickes if he bowled his full four overs. The best part about Varun is that he gets wickets whenever he is asked to bowl. Axar Patel took two wickets in three overs, it’s a good sign. All our bowlers picked up wickets. Arshdeep did not complete his four overs, while Shivam Dube bowled two and Hardik completed his quota. This hints that Kuldeep Yadav could replace Arshdeep against Pakistan. Sri Lanka pitches help spinners and India have history of playing three spinners. Expect Kuldeep in the XI against Pakistan in Colombo.”
Parthiv Patel assessed India’s spin resources and who should play against Pakistan:
“It is good news that Washington Sundar is back. He is a tempting option against Pakistan. But my concern is that he has not played T20I cricket for a long time. He was injured, rushed to get fit for the World Cup, and then did not play the first two matches against the USA and Namibia. Suddenly, you want to play him against Pakistan. Yes, Pakistan have many left-handers like Saim Ayub, Mohammad Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf. So, India do have options. But I feel Kuldeep Yadav should play because he comes with a guarantee of wickets. Pakistan do not play spin well and Kuldeep knows how to dismiss the Pakistani batters. In the last Asia Cup final, he took four wickets. I would love to see a Kuldeep Yadav masterclass against Pakistan one more time.”
On India’s victory over Namibia and the areas of improvement:
“India couldn’t have won in a better way against Namibia, but how you play is in your hands, how the opposition plays is not. Look at the batting. There is still a lot to improve in the final two overs. Only 10 runs in 12 balls and five wickets lost in the 19th and 20th overs. That is not acceptable for India. It will be a concern going into the Pakistan match. Bowling was very clinical. No mistakes there. But I am not completely satisfied with the batting. I know I am greedy. We batted well for the first 18 overs, but against a side like Namibia, we should have scored 250 runs easily. The batting mistakes like these cannot happen against Pakistan and stronger teams. They will make us pay. We don’t want that.”
