The West Indies hold a 3-1 advantage over India in the T20 World Cup history.
The defending champions, India, were set to dominate the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 after coming off a blazing, unbeaten run in the shortest format since their triumphant campaign in 2024. But the mega T20 championship panned out to be an entirely different story, as the hosts’ qualification chances faced severe uncertainty during the ongoing Super Eights of the event.
Though the team managed four consecutive victories in the league stage, they were yet to play the similar, attacking brand of cricket that was on display for more than a year. Coming into the Super Eights, a thrashing 76-run victory facing the last edition’s runners-up, South Africa, had not only turned the last two fixtures into must-win games but also taken a major hit in their net run rate.
However, the Proteas’ victory over the West Indies on Thursday, followed by the Men in Blue’s huge win against Zimbabwe, have brought back India’s semi-final qualification chances into their own hands.
Ahead of the crucial fixture, star Indian seamer Arshdeep Singh has opened up about the key challenge of facing the Caribbeans in the virtual knock-out clash. Usually, the Islanders are known for playing high-risk cricket.
But the pacer noted how a calculated partnership between the all-rounders Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd had rescued the team from 86/7 in 11 overs. The pair’s 89-run contribution had powered them to a fighting score of 176/8, showcasing the side’s capability to adapt to the conditions as well.
“It’s not like they have only one gear. If you look at their game against SA, they played really nicely in the middle as well. They took the game deep and then made around 180 runs. So they can also adapt according to the situation. Looking forward to the game, we’ll see how the pitch plays and we’ll assess things on game day,” said the bowler.
However, Arshdeep also spoke about the hosts preferring flat wickets in the T20 World Cup 2026.
“As long as our batters are having fun batting on these surfaces, we’re more than happy to do the dirty job. We don’t mind being hit for runs. Our game plan has been to score big and then try to defend it,” he added.
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India and the West Indies will lock horns against each other on March 1 in Kolkata. With one win and one defeat, both the two-time champions are currently placed with two points each, making the IND vs WI clash a knock-out match to advance to the T20 World Cup 2026 semi-finals.
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