India will face New Zealand for five T20Is before the World Cup in February 2026.
This year, India won the Asia Cup 2025, followed by a 2-1 T20I series win in Australia, and the latest 3-1 win against South Africa at home. It may look like the hosts are ready to clinch the 10th edition of the T20 World Cup 2026 in February. But when it comes to the No.3 spot, the truth is far from reality.
The Indian contingent has formed a strong squad with powerful openers, a stable middle-order, a mind-blowing finisher in Hardik Pandya, duos of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarty handling spin, while Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh handle the pace department. Yet, the No.3 spot is wobbly, offering no support in the lineup.
The veteran duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from the T20I format after winning the World Cup in 2024. Ruturaj Gaikwad was slotted at No.3 for two matches (making seven and 77* against Zimbabwe), while Abhishek Sharma was handed his India debut. The latter also played at No.3 for three games, amassing 24 runs. Except for a Sri Lanka match where Sanju Samson got out for a duck, the No.3 duties were handled by either Suryakumar Yadav or Tilak Varma.
The SKY-Varma swatches continued till the Asia Cup 2025, until Samson was given another chance at one down. He made a 45-ball 56 against Oman. But two matches later, Shivam Dube walked out in an attempt to handle Bangladesh’s spin attack. India’s strategy failed as Dube returned for two runs, losing his wicket to Rishad Hossain.
The musical chairs between SKY, Samson, and Dube continued in Australia too. However, experts and fans witnessed a twist in the tale when Axar Patel walked out in the 2nd T20I against South Africa. Chasing a 200+ total, the left-handed all-rounder to accompany another southpaw, Abhishek, after Shubman Gill walked back at 9/1 in the first over. Axar made a run-a-ball 21 in a losing cause.
The decision to send Axar, however, was equal parts bizarre and absurd.
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Most of India’s wins in the T20Is this year have been courtesy of sensational batting by Abhishek Sharma or the all-rounders in the middle and lower-middle orders. Suryakumar Yadav has been out of form, which the captain himself admits. But it doesn’t make up for the confusion over a dedicated spot, which should belong to Tilak Varma, while Surya can stick to his best position at two down.
Let’s prove the above statement with statistics.
Overall, at the No.3 spot, from the last World Cup to date, Surya has made 377 runs in 17 outings, at a strike rate of 157.74. He has made two half-centuries since, but his last top score of 75 came against Bangladesh in October 2024. Talking about his No.3 outings throughout his career, the 35-year-old has a century and six fifties at a strike rate of 159. But at the two down spot, Surya has struck three hundreds, 13 half-centuries, and his strike rate shoots up to 166.
Coming to Varma at No.3 in the last two years or so, he has made 422 runs from just seven outings. He has two hundreds, two half-centuries, and a strike rate of 168.80 – the highest among batters at No.3 since the retirements of the two stalwarts. If that’s not enough to convince you, Varma, overall, has 542 runs from 15 outings at No.3, striking at 161. It drops to 129 at No.4.
That’s enough evidence to showcase how the swaps of Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma for the No.3 are pointless. It should belong to the run-making machine, while the captain can stick to his comfort zone and regain form. This should be the ideology going into the five-match New Zealand T20I series, starting from January 21 in Nagpur. The decisions made during this series will be helpful to easily navigate the T20 World Cup 2026, starting on February 7. India will play their first match against the USA at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
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