Sixteen Games And Four Batsmen, Gautam Gambhir's Number Three Conundrum In T20Is Under Scanner As India Prepare For World T20 2026

Suryakumar Yadav's India are preparing for the World T20 that will be played next year. India are not only the defending champions, but they are also the favourites to win the competition. India have won the last two ICC tournaments, the T20 World Cup in 2024 and the Champions Trophy in 2025. Under Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir, the 'men in blue' are expected to defend their title in front of their home crowd.

India recently won the Asia Cup undefeated, and they followed it up with a series win against Mitchell Marsh's Australia, in Australia, but they are yet to tick all the boxes despite time running out real fast in the lead-up to the World T20.

All Eyes On India's Number Three Confusion

Despite their dominance and all-round show in T20Is, the 'men in blue' are yet to lock in on their preferred batting lineup. Head Coach Gautam Gambhir has been bullish about India batting till number eight, but there is still a lack of clarity on who bats where. In the sixteen T20I games that India have played this year, they have used four different batters in the number three spot.

While Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma were opening the batting for India, there was a popular theory doing the rounds that Gautam Gambhir was a huge believer of the left-right combination, and India's number three depended on who gets dismissed first. Once Shubman Gill walked in and started opening the batting for India, even Sanju Samson has been pushed down the ladder

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Here's India's Number Three In All The Sixteen T20Is That They Have Played

• IND vs ENG, 1st T20I: Suryakumar Yadav
• IND vs ENG, 2nd T20I: Tilak Varma
• IND vs ENG, 3rd T20I: Suryakumar Yadav
• IND vs ENG, 4th T20I: Tilak Varma
• IND vs ENG, 5th T20I: Tilak Varma
• IND vs UAE, Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav
• IND vs PAK, Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav
• IND vs OMN, Asia Cup 2025: Sanju Samson
• IND vs PAK, Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav
• IND vs BAN, Asia Cup 2025: Shivam Dube
• IND vs SL, Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav
• IND vs PAK, Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav
• IND vs AUS, 1st T20I: Suryakumar Yadav
• IND vs AUS, 2nd T20I: Sanju Samson
• IND vs AUS, 3rd T20I: Suryakumar Yadav
• IND vs AUS, 4th T20I: Shivam Dube

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India To Lock Horns With South Africa Next

The Proteas will be visiting India for two Test matches, three ODIs, and five T20Is. Suryakumar Yadav's team will look to dominate the Proteas and get some stability in their batting. The batsmen of the Indian team will like to get some role clarity, as this is something that is extremely important heading into the T20 World Cup.