With less than two weeks to go before the start of the T20 World Cup 2026, teams are shaping up perfectly for the big event. Most teams have announced their 15-man official squad for the tournament, and all that is left is for the World Cup to commence.
Bangladesh will be, unfortunately, not participating in the World Cup after their decision not to travel to India for security reasons. Scotland, instead, replaced them in the tournament. While the discussions have already begun regarding the World Cup, one of the big questions being asked by experts is, “Can India defend their T20 title?”
Of course, the answer to that question isn’t easy, and there’s no way of knowing that beforehand practically. But Team India is one of the strongest contenders to win this World Cup, further boosted by the fact that they will have home advantage as the hosts.
India and Sri Lanka are the hosts of this T20 World Cup, and India will play all their matches in India, except for one against Pakistan. So, bearing that question in mind, let’s look at India’s journey until this World Cup and how good their chances are to defend the title.
India hasn’t lost a single T20 International series since the 2024 T20 World Cup win. They have played 8 International series so far, and won every single one of them. Not to forget, their 2024 T20 World Cup win was also an unbeaten one. Right after Rohit Sharma and co. lifted that trophy, Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja retired from T20 Internationals. But immediately after that, India toured Zimbabwe to play a 5-match T20I series. India won that series 4-1.
They soon followed it up with a 3-0 win against Sri Lanka, a 3-1 win against South Africa (in South Africa), and a 4-1 win against England at home. Right after that, India also won the Asia Cup (a T20 tournament in 2025), unbeaten, beating Pakistan in the final by 5 wickets to lift the trophy. There was no slowing down after the Asia Cup win.
India continued their merry run against Australia in Australia, beating them by a 2-1 margin. After that, South Africa toured India and lost the T20I series 3-1. Finally, in the latest ongoing 5-match T20I series against New Zealand, India has already taken an unassailable 3-0 lead. This series will complete India’s juggernaut run until the T20 World Cup in February.
India is playing well and is clearly the favorite to win the cup. But as far as T20 cricket is concerned, it could still be anyone’s game on that particular day. South Africa, Australia, England, and New Zealand also look menacing in this format. Pakistan and Afghanistan can also defeat anyone on their day.
Therefore, there is no guarantee that India will win this World Cup, but the odds remain in favor of the host nation.
Looking at India’s 15-man squad, the selectors have picked a ‘Gun’ side for the tournament. The fact that players such as Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Jitesh Sharma are not selected is a tell-tale sign of India’s strength in the squad.
Even bowlers such as Mohammed Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal didn’t make the squad. India has gone with a good mix of batters and bowlers, and a healthy dose of all-rounders.
The squad of India is – Suryakumar Yadav ©, Axar Patel (VC), Sanju Samson (Wk), Ishan Kishan (Wk), Abhisek Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakravarthy, Rinku Singh, and Tilak Varma.
This is a squad that covers all bases, has in-form players, and each carries the potential to win India the match from any situation. The tournament will be played in 5 stadiums across India in Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Kolkata. In Sri Lanka, 3 stadiums will host the tournament, which are SSC and RPS in Colombo and Kandy.
India is placed in Group A, alongside Pakistan, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the United States of America. There are 4 Groups (A, B, C, D) with 5 teams each, and two teams from each group will advance to the Super 8. After that, there are the two semi-finals and the final. India will begin their tournament on 7th February against the USA.
If India wins this World Cup, they will be the first team to win the T20 World Cup three times. They will also be the first team to win the World Cup for back-to-back editions. Will they be able to do it? We shall know that in only a few weeks.
