T20 World Cup 2026: All-round India face Namibia in Delhi
What's the story
Co-hosts India will take on Namibia in their second match of the 2026 ICC T20 Men's World Cup. New Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium will host the evening fixture (7:00pm IST) on February 12. The Men in Blue are coming off a patchy win over the USA, while Namibia lost to the Netherlands. Notably, Abhishek Sharma's availability is in doubt after he was hospitalized with an illness.
Match history
Pitch report and conditions
The surface at Arun Jaitley Stadium has been batting-friendly of late. Low bounce and slowness have also been some of its attributes. Notably, the average first-innings score on this historic ground goes past 160. Namibia scored 156/8 against the Netherlands here in their opener. Both India and Namibia will be in for a cool outing, with dew appearing in the second innings. The temperature during the match will be around 11 degrees Celsius.
India
Abhishek doubtful for India
Star opener Abhishek, who played against the USA despite a fever, was hospitalized thereafter. However, he has since been discharged. If he remains absent, Sanju Samson will be a direct replacement. Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the first match due to illness, returned to full training on Tuesday. Probable XI: Sanju Samson/Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah/ Mohammed Siraj, and Varun Chakravarthy.
Namibia
Will Namibia make a change?
Namibia, who struggled against the Netherlands, may consider replacing Max Heingo with Ben Shikongo for this match, as per ESPNcricinfo. Notably, Heingo conceded 22 runs in two overs in Namibia's defeat to the Netherlands. Probable XI: Louren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (captain), JJ Smit, Zane Green (wicket-keeper), Dylan Leicher, Willem Myburgh, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz, and Ben Shikongo.
Numbers
A look at notable numbers
In their only head-to-head clash, India beat Namibia in the 2021 T20 World Cup. According to ESPNcricinfo, India are now unbeaten in their last nine T20 World Cup matches, the longest winning streak in the tournament. Arshdeep is one shy of completing 250 wickets in T20 cricket. He (29) is also closing in on R Ashwin's record of 32 T20 WC wickets. Hardik is set to touch the 6,000-run mark in T20s (currently at 5,926).