Former India player Dinesh Karthik has pinpointed the weakness India need to address ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026.
As defending champions, India has undergone significant squad shifts since their 2024
T20 World Cup triumph, including the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from T20Is, paving the way for Suryakumar Yadav as captain and Axar Patel as vice-captain.
Key exclusions like Shubman Gill reflect a bold move towards aggressive openers such as Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, with returns for Rinku Singh and Ishan Kishan bolstering the lineup. In JioStar's 'The Experts' View', Dinesh Karthik, Ian Bishop, and Mel Jones deliver a SWOT analysis, which depicts the strengths as including a powerhouse batting order, elite spinners like Kuldeep Yadav.
However, if India is to defend its title on home soil, it will have to eradicate a significant weakness, according to Dinesh Karthik. The former India player believes the bowling in the crunch final overs has been a weakness for Suryakumar Yadav and his troops.
"Death bowling is a concern. I think it's a challenge because of the way they stack up their eleven. When they've played in the subcontinent, they've gone with Bumrah, Hardik as the second pacer, and Shivam Dube as the third, while backing their spinners heavily. At times, when the game goes deep, especially when they're defending a total, the back end can become a challenge," Karthik said.
But overall, Karthik believes the Indian team is in a very good place with respect to recent form in T20Is. Gautam Gambhir's boys have been excellent in the format over the last two years and it would be hard to topple them.
"The Indian team is in a very strong position at the moment. As we sit here, they've won 29 out of the 36 matches they've played in T20 cricket post the World Cup, which is a phenomenal record to have. In a very fickle format like T20, where upsets are the norm, this level of consistency is remarkable. Winning 29 out of the last 36 games they've played is, I feel, very hard to replicate," he added.
