Opener Abhishek Sharma isn’t certain to be in the 11 for India’s second match of the 2026 T20 World Cup against Namibia, scheduled for Thursday (February 12). The team’s assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate, said on Tuesday that the left-hander was still suffering from an ‘illness’, though adding that they were hopeful of seeing him back for the match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
“Abhi has still got a few issues with his tummy, but we are hopeful he will be available for the game in two days time,” Doeschate said in his press conference.
Abhishek missed the team’s practice session soon after ten Doeschate’s press conference. If he were to indeed miss out on the 11, Sanju Samson could be the straightforward like-for-like replacement.
Samson was the
first-choice opener until the last series against South Africa, but a poor run of five consecutive games made him lose the place to Ishan Kishan. Another, more left-field, option could be Washington Sundar, if the team requires a bit of extra spin cushion.
Washington was sidelined for the last few weeks due to injury and missed the South Africa T20Is. But ten Doeschate confirmed he had returned to practice on Tuesday (February 10) and will bowl again.
Bumrah returns to bowling
Meanwhile, senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah is also expected to return to bowling on Tuesday, ten Doeschate confirmed. Bumrah was also down with an illness, and Doeschate said he’s fit again but hasn’t bowled for the last ten days, which makes his return to the 11 uncertain too.
“Bumrah has been off 10 days without bowling, but he’s feeling a lot better and moving a lot better,” ten Doeschate said.
The assistant coach also confirmed that if Bumrah were to be fit to start in two days, Mohammed Siraj would be the one to miss out. The Hyderabadi might feel hard done considering he took three wickets against the USA, but he was always considered the third seamer, having replaced Harshit Rana, who had that spot in the pecking order behind Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh.
