New Delhi, 12 February 2026: After a spectacular win against USA in the T20 World Cup, defending champions India will next play in New Delhi where they will play their second group match against Namibia on Thursday. Indian batting failed in the match against USA at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Now, on the pitch of Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the team will try to attack by going all out.
However, more than the match against Namibia, India’s concern is about opening batsman Abhishek Sharma, who was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday but is not match fit yet. Abhishek has been admitted to the hospital since Monday due to stomach infection and fever. His chances of taking part in this match are less, but the team management would like the batsman to be completely fit before the big match against Pakistan on 15th February.
Meanwhile, in the absence of Abhishek, this match could be a golden opportunity for Sanju Samson to prove himself. Due to a series of failures, he was dropped from the playing eleven, and he was replaced by Ishan Kishan, who is currently in excellent form. During practice on Wednesday, Jasprit Bumrah’s words hit Ishaan, due to which he had to consult a doctor. However, he later returned to batting.
Assistant coach Ryan Day said, “Sanju is feeling good now. He is understanding his role in the team and is performing well in practice.” Now if we talk about the match against Namibia, on paper there is a huge difference in quality between the two teams. Recently, Namibia had failed to make an impact against an associate team like Netherlands on the same ground. Therefore, India can see this match as a practice match before the big clash.
Indian team
Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Varunvarti Chakra, Rinku Singh.
namibia team
Gerhard ERASMUS (captain), John Balt, John Green, Malan Kruger, Dylan Leicher, Laurens Steenkamp, Jan Frylink, Jan-Nikol Lofty-Eaton, William Myerberg, JJ Smit, Jack Brassell, Max Hingo, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Tsikongo, Ruben Trumpelman.
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