{"id":230542,"date":"2026-02-26T23:42:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T23:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/26\/you-cant-keep-changing-former-captains-huge-prediction-on-indias-combination-for-ind-vs-wi-t20-world-cup-2026-match\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T23:42:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T23:42:36","slug":"you-cant-keep-changing-former-captains-huge-prediction-on-indias-combination-for-ind-vs-wi-t20-world-cup-2026-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/26\/you-cant-keep-changing-former-captains-huge-prediction-on-indias-combination-for-ind-vs-wi-t20-world-cup-2026-match\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;You can&#8217;t keep changing&#8221; &#8211; Former captain&#8217;s huge prediction on India&#8217;s combination for IND vs WI T20 World Cup 2026 match"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5130204\" data-slug-id=\"2742427\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Former India captain Anil Kumble reckons that the Men in Blue will retain the playing combination that featured in the T20 World Cup 2026 game against Zimbabwe for the do-or-die clash against the West Indies. Admitting that India should ideally have not changed their combination midway through the tournament, he explained that circumstances forced them to do so.<\/p>\n<p>India beat Zimbabwe by 72 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday, February 26 in a crucial Super 8 clash of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/go\/icc-t20-world-cup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">T20 World Cup 2026<\/a>. Sent into bat, the Men in Blue posted 256-4 on the board and then held Zimbabwe to 184-6. India made a key change at the top of the order, bringing back Sanju Samson as opener, pushing Ishan Kishan down to No.3 and Tilak Varma to No. 6.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>During a discussion on <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=huCVQkcFyhQ&amp;t=1520s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">ESPNcricinfo<\/a><\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/anil-kumble\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Kumble<\/a> opined that the Men in Blue must stick to this combination for their remaining games in the T20 World Cup 2026 and stop chopping and changing the playing XI. He commented:          <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Nobody expected Abhishek Sharma to get out three times not scoring a single run. Then, suddenly off-spinner becoming a major hindrance to the batters at the top. The squad had only one [additional] top order batter. So, I guess you have made that decision, now you have to stick to it. You can&#8217;t keep changing. I think this combination will continue.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Opening the batting, Samson got India off to a rapid start, smashing 24 off 15 balls. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/abhishek-sharma-cricket\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Abhishek Sharma<\/a> top-scored with 55 off 30 balls, while Hardik Pandya (50* off 23), Varma (44* off 16), Kishan (38 off 24) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (33 off 13) all chipped in.   <\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>&#8220;Why not keep the same team?&#8221; &#8211; Faf du Plessis backs India to retain playing XI for T20 World Cup 2026 match against West Indies<\/h2>\n<p>Former South African captain Faf du Plessis also reckons that India must retain the same team that beat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/team\/zimbabwe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Zimbabwe<\/a> for the must-win clash against the West Indies. Du Plessis opined that having Samson at the top of the order definitely makes the side stronger and also helps with the left-right combination. He explained:         <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;They had all these lefties. So, Sanju came in today and gave them a better look. They had a right and a left at the top. It wasn&#8217;t as obvious where the holes are. If you lose a couple of wickets, Tilak Varma can come in and play that anchor innings. You&#8217;ve got Hardik, so there&#8217;s options. It&#8217;s a very flexible batting line-up. They&#8217;ve played so well today, so why not keep the same team?&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Samson and Abhishek added 48 for the first wicket against Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup match. Abhishek and Ishan then featured in a 72-run stand for the second wicket. Towards the end, Varma and Pandya were part of a rollicking 84-run unbeaten partnership, which came off just 31 deliveries.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Renin Wilben Albert<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/cricket\/news-anil-kumble-huge-prediction-india-s-combination-ind-vs-wi-t20-world-cup-2026-match\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former India captain Anil Kumble reckons that the Men in Blue will retain the playing combination that featured in the T20 World Cup 2026 game against Zimbabwe for the do-or-die clash against the West Indies. Admitting that India should ideally have not changed their combination midway through the tournament, he explained that circumstances forced them [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":230543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-230542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}