IND vs ENG: Predicted India playing XI for semi-final 2 of the T20 World Cup 2026

The battle for the semi-finals is now set to begin in the T20 World Cup 2026. While South Africa will face New Zealand in Semi-Final 1, defending champions, 2-time winners, and this edition's hosts, India, will face another two-time champion, England, in Semi-Final 2. This match will be played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on March 05. 

This will be the third consecutive T20 World Cup semi-final between the two teams. The two teams also faced each other in the 2022 & 2024 editions’ semi-finals. In 2022, England defeated India by 10 wickets, while in 2024, India took revenge by defeating England by 68 runs. Interestingly, the team that won the semi-final between the two sides also went on to win the title later in the tournament. While England won the 2022 title, India won the T20 World Cup in 2024.

The paths of both teams to the semi-finals have been completely different from each other. While England faced difficulties in the group stage, India dominated the group stage completely. While England showed their dominance in the Super 8, India had to face difficulties in the Super 8.

The biggest problem for the Indian team at the moment is Abhishek Sharma’s current form. He has scored 74 runs in 6 innings, including 1 half-century against Zimbabwe. After having 3 consecutive ducks in the group stage, he is not looking like his old avatar. Apart from Abhishek, the rest of the batters have played a couple of knocks in the tournament so far, but Indian batters are yet to perform as a team.

Thanks to Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 97, the Indian team has advanced to the semi-finals. So, he will once again want to repeat his form. It is expected that the team will be unchanged in the semi-finals. Sanju and Abhishek will open. Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma come at 3, 4 & 5. Then, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, and Axar Patel will be featured in finisher roles. 

In the bowling department, the Indian team is facing a lot of concerns. Especially Varun Chakravarthy’s Super 8 matches performance. In the group stage, Chakravarthy took 9 wickets, but in the Super 8, he clinched only 3 wickets. The Indian team is also currently facing problems with their sixth bowler. Shivam Dube went expensive against South Africa (32 runs in 2 overs) and Zimbabwe (46 runs in 2 overs), and therefore he did not bowl against the West Indies. 

Furthermore, except for Jasprit Bumrah, the other bowlers haven't lived up to their reputations. Arshdeep and Hardik have been unable to take wickets in the initial overs in the last few matches, leading to the opposition consistently posting 180+ scores against India, something India simply can't afford in a semi-final. The team may consider including Kuldeep Yadav in the India playing XI, but management will likely want to tinker with the winning combination at this stage.

Predicted India playing XI

Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy/Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah