🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: M3: IND vs USA at Mumbai on 07/02/26🏏 - Page 2

The USA enter their second consecutive ICC Men's T20 World Cup on the back of a breakthrough run at the 2024 home edition, highlighted by a memorable Super Over victory against Pakistan. That surge on the field has unfolded against a backdrop of sustained off-field instability, with the suspension of USA Cricket casting uncertainty over the administration of the game in America. The victory over Pakistan might have been expected to open the door to regular full-member fixtures, but ongoing administrative turmoil ensured that momentum was never translated into an expanded international calendar. Yet, the returns on the pitch were quite the opposite as the men's team were recognised as Associate Team of the Year at the ICC AGM 2025, capping an impressive run in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2.

Fuelled by heavy investment and exposure through Major League Cricket, the novelty around American cricket is steadily giving way to expectation, as a settled core of players who have become familiar faces across the global T20 circuit. Consequently, transforming the USA from long-regarded sleeping giants of the cricketing world into giant-killers in 2024, and entering the 2026 World Cup as a side ready to step out of the fringes of international cricket.

The USA are unusually well stocked with experience across all key disciplines, a luxury seldom afforded to associate sides. Much of their batting responsibility will rest on Monank Patel, the architect of the landmark win over Pakistan and the leading run-scorer in the 2025 edition of Major League Cricket, alongside the explosive Andries Gous. Gous has continued to make his mark across the global T20 circuit since leaving South Africa in 2020 and arrives in form after a century in the knockout stages of the ILT20, with the pair expected to form the batting bulwark of USA.

With the ball, USA will lean heavily on Saurabh Netravalkar, their spearhead and a proven new-ball operator at associate level, who is set to partner the seasoned Ali Khan. While Khan is in the latter stages of his career, his pace and intensity remain valuable assets, particularly for games against India and Pakistan, where he is expected to have his tail up for those contests. Harmeet Singh and Mohammad Mohsin complete the all important spin puzzle for the USA, a decisive component of any bowling attack in subcontinental conditions. Singh, in particular, has been invaluable across the franchises he has represented, and has increasingly carved out a reputation as a reliable lower-order hitter, adding depth to the balance of the side.

The road to the World Cup

It is perhaps unfortunate that the momentum generated by the home ICC Men's T20 World Cup did not translate into a sustained launchpad for the USA to enter the cricketing mainstream, for reasons largely beyond the team's control. Yet what can reasonably be described as the USA's golden generation has continued to separate itself from its associate peers, particularly in the 50-over format. The side has emerged as the most consistent associate outfit of the past two years and currently sits atop the standings in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, underlining its growing depth and competitiveness.

Results in the T20I format, however, have been more uneven. A 3-0 series defeat to Nepal proved a low point, in a tour overshadowed by the high-profile departure of head coach Stuart Law following internal unrest within the squad. Since then, the USA have sought to reinforce their T20 ambitions, adding firepower through the inclusion of hard-hitting batter Shubham Ranjane, former Sri Lanka international Shehan Jayasuriya, and the wrist-spin of Mohammad Mohsin, additions that lend further heft to an already experienced core group.

Who can bend a match in 10 balls

Sanjay Krishnamurthi has emerged as the find of the season for the USA. Just 22, he belies his modest frame with remarkable hitting power, striking the ball cleanly and consistently to all parts. Already, Krishnamurthi has cleared the ropes 43 times in his fledgling T20 career, underlining the impact he has made in a short span. He offered a glimpse of his fearless approach during the World Cup warm-ups, blasting an 18-ball 41 against India A.

India are in a rarefied stratum of T20I cricket, carving consistency out of its inherent chaos. Under Suryakumar Yadav, this team is pushing toward a feat no one has achieved in this format before: a successful World Cup title defence and a third title overall. India know from personal experience that a home World Cup often magnifies pressure in ways that have tripped up even the biggest champions. No team has ever won a T20 World Cup on its own soil, leaving India with yet another box to tick on an already ambitious to-do list.

But this Indian side has spent the last two years defying the basic conventions of the format. A win percentage of 80 has gone a long way in smoothing over the waves of variance T20 brings. They've reduced it to something repeatable, with a level of control that should lead them to the podium in March.

India approached the World Cup selection with a striking clarity of thought. They decisively binned the idea of retaining Shubman Gill in the top order, seeing it as a disruption to what they had built before last year's Asia Cup. Sanju Samson reunited with Abhishek Sharma at the top but endured a long struggle that stretched until the last series before the showpiece event, against New Zealand. But sound selection planning led India to a fail-safe for exactly such situations. They moved on from Jitesh Sharma as the backup wicketkeeper and drafted in Ishan Kishan, who has shot straight to the top of the lineup, singing from the same sheet as the rest of the order.

India has also equipped itself with a finishing axis of Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh, and a batting order beyond the openers that can be molded by the match situation. Among the bowlers, picking both Kuldeep Yadav and Varun CV remains a luxury which compromises the batting depth that India desire. The one way of having them both in a line-up was by bringing in Harshit Rana for one the quicks. But he's now confirmed to be out of the tournament, with Mohammed Siraj replacing him. Siraj doesn't offer the batting cushion that Rana does.

India are also set to wait on Washington Sundar to regain full fitness, instead of reaching for a replacement. He represents a solid like-for-like cover for Axar Patel, should such a need arise like it did in the series against New Zealand.

Road to the World Cup

India have hit near-perfect notes since winning their second T20 World Cup in June 2024. They've won 33 of the 41 T20Is in this period, which includes a seven-match undefeated run in last year's Asia Cup. They've won eight bilateral series - four each at home and away. It's a victory run that includes oppositions like Australia, South Africa (both home and away), England and New Zealand.

Last five T20Is: W-W-W-L-W (latest)

The way they play

India's current batting flamboyance can be traced back to 2022, when Rohit Sharma pushed for an ideological reset after the World Cup semifinal loss to England. Between the 2022 and 2024 World Cups, India won 19 of their 29 T20Is, before pulling out all stops to secure the title in 2024. Since then, in this post-Rohit, post-Kohli world, India have scaled newer heights of batting bravado, giving wings of uninhibition to their top-order.

This shift has been most evident in the way they've approached PowerPlay batting, hitting at close to 10-an-over. In isolation, that is no longer novel in modern T20 cricket. What separates India from most others has been their ability to carry similar brute force through the remaining two phases. They have scored at a strike rate of more than nine in the middle-overs and pushed beyond ten at the death.

This 'new India' have scored 12 200-plus totals in this timeline, when no other team has managed more than seven. India's top-three T20I scores - 297/6, 283/1 and 271/5, have all come in this cycle where the clear priority has been to bat big, fast and without a care for setbacks. India have lost just six of the 41 matches played in this period, and only two of those have come at home when they fell short chasing scores more than 200. It speaks to the batters' efficiency that India have enjoyed far more good days than bad despite such a risk-heavy mindset.

Who can bend a match in 10 balls

Abhishek Sharma leads and embodies this Indian batting revolution. It is deeply ingrained in his psyche to blaze away from the first ball, with no real regard for bowling reputations. Abhishek strikes at 194.74 in T20Is - a statistical outlier that borders on the absurd. Of the 433 batters who have faced at least 500 deliveries in this format, no one else has a strike rate in excess of 175.

Scheduling

Expectedly, all of India's fixtures are scheduled for 7 pm IST starts, bringing the challenge of dew into play at every venue. They begin on the opening day against USA in Mumbai, before moving to the national capital to face Namibia, with a four-day gap in between.

There's then a rise in time spent travelling after the second match. India go from Delhi to Colombo for the marquee group clash against Pakistan, a near four-hour flight squeezed into a two-day turnaround. The journey lengthens further for their final league game, as they go from Colombo to Ahmedabad to face Netherlands, again with just a two-day break.

Date Opponent Venue
February 7 USAWankhede Stadium, Mumbai

February 12 NamibiaArun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

February 15 PakistanR Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

February 18 NetherlandsNarendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad