West Indies batter Shimron Hetmyer has been enjoying a tremendous campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026, impressing out of his natural spot at the No.3 slot. He once again gave a testament to his sheer batting prowess by slamming a fiery 34-ball 85 in their opening Super 8 clash against Zimbabwe today (February 23).
Shimron Hetmyer looked in an absolute carnage mode, smacking seven boundaries and as many maximums at an explosive strike rate of 250.0 to propel the Windies to a towering total of 254/6 in 20 overs. In the process, the Caribbean big-hitter is currently the second-highest run-scorer at the ICC event with 219 runs in five innings at a stellar average of 54.75, including two fifties.
His performance at the No.3 position, taking over the responsibility of the slot after the retirement of Nicholas Pooran, will now back his case for a possible promotion at the Rajasthan Royals (RR) franchise in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) season.
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A key reason for Shimron’s confident display at the No.3 slot can be attributed to his improvement against spin. While he initially started out as a top-order batter, his role evolved to a finisher but his latest showing at the top can make RR rethink about his entry point in IPL 2026.
Across 2023 and 2024, Hetmyer had been slowed down by spin, averaging 19.92 at a strike rate of 121.3 against it, but in 2025, he made amends to his weakness. His strike rate against spin improved to 207.6 and his average to 36.2.
Furthermore, RR had used four different batters at the No.3 slot in Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag and Kunal Singh Rathore. However, Nitish Rana has been traded to Delhi Capitals (DC) and Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings (CSK), while Kunal Singh Rathore has been released, creating a vacancy for the spot.
Given the current scenario, Shimron Hetmyer can thus see himself batting higher up in the Rajasthan Royals Playing XI for the next IPL 2026 edition.
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