Sanju back to opening and? 3 issues India need to fix for 2026 T20 WC despite Asia Cup title

Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson for India - (Source: AFP)

India extended their lead against Sri Lanka after the Men in Blue lifted their ninth continental cup on Sunday, September 28. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side beat Pakistan by five wickets and ended the tournament without a single defeat.

It was a near-perfect event for the Men in Blue as India registered seven wins out of seven games. Despite a defeat-less tournament, there were a few areas of concern that the Suryakumar Yadav-led side needs to fix before the 2026 T20 World Cup.

1. Sanju Samson Back At Top, Shubman Gill Out Of The Side

For the ongoing Asia Cup, India made changes to their opening combination and brought Shubman Gill back into the side. Further, Sanju Samson was demoted down the middle-order to accommodate Shubman in the playing XI.

However, the move didn't do well for anyone. Neither Shubman Gill got the runs, nor did Samson look comfortable in the middle order. Talking about the stats of the two stars, Gill has scored just 127 runs in seven innings. 

Meanwhile, Samson also failed to get opportunities and could only manage 132 runs in four innings. Although it is high time that India reverts to their original opening pair of Samson-Abhishek Sharma. 

Also, dropping Shubman Gill from the T20I set-up and promoting Samson back to the top would free up space in the middle-order. 

2. Shreyas Iyer Back In The Team

The competition will be tougher in the T20 World Cup 2026, and experiments won't work. India faced a lot of flak for not picking up Shreyas Iyer for the Asia Cup T20 2025, despite performing well for the Punjab Kings in the IPL. Thus, in the World Cup, India would require match-winners and having Shreyas Iyer in the team should be a must. 

Iyer amassed 604 runs in 17 innings in IPL 2025, his best season in the cash-studded league. Yet, the right-handed batter faced difficulty finding a place. However, if Sanju reverts to his opening position, then, as mentioned above, a vacancy will be created in the middle-order, leaving the space for Shreyas Iyer to fill that gap. 

Shreyas Iyer's stats in IPL 2025 compared to Indian middle-order

3. The 2nd Pacer conundrum

India are having difficulty fitting in the quality seamers within the team. It has been two tournaments since India have gone ahead with three spinners. Now in the Asia Cup, Jasprit Bumrah was the sole seamer, and after Hardik Pandya's injury, it felt that the Men in Blue were without pace-bowling options.

Thus, for the T20 World Cup 2026, India needs to find a way to also fit in Arshdeep Singh in the team to help Jasprit Bumrah from the opposite end. It feels not having any other seamer in the team also affected Jasprit Bumrah, which led to the seamer just taking seven wickets in five matches.

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