It wasn’t too long ago that India was looking for left-handers. For years, their white-ball batting was dominated by right-handers, and team think tanks often spoke of the need to disrupt bowling rhythms, disrupt angles and create tactical discomfort. The antidote was the leftists. They were the balance.
IND vs ZIM, World Cup T20: Preview
Today, India no longer has this problem. They have it the other way around.
India didn’t just add left-handers; they built an entire batting identity around themselves. And in doing so, they may have created a vulnerability that has quietly followed them into the 2026 T20 World Cup.
The shift is astounding. In the 2022 World Cup, India had only one left-hander in the top six. By 2024, this number has increased to three. In this tournament, the transformation is total. Five of the top six Souths were against South Africa. Against Pakistan, six of the top eight batted left-handed.
This was no accident. It was on purpose.
Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan are the flag bearers of this new Indian template – aggressive, fearless and capable of taking the match in the Powerplay. But by pairing its top order with left-handers, India have also created something else: predictability.
Opposition teams no longer had to look for weaknesses. They knew exactly where to mix.
PIVOT SAMSON
Ironically, that wasn’t the original plan. Until the eve of this World Cup, Sanju Samson was the designated opener. He launched into opposition attacks and forged a formidable partnership with Abhishek.
Then came the chilly January of 2026. Samson, back on top after India canceled the Shubman Gill scheme, struggled against New Zealand. On the contrary, Ishan Kishan numbers– both on home soil and in his comeback series against the Black Caps – were too loud to ignore.
India did the logical thing: they rewarded form. Kishan came in, Samson came out and India entered the World Cup for the first time with an all-left-arm front three. It worked in bilateral cricket. It didn’t work at the World Cup anyway.
WARNING SIGNALS
The first sign of trouble came from an unexpected source. Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus showed that India, especially on slower surfaces, can be troubled by spin early in the innings. Pakistan followed with even greater tactical clarity. Salman Ali Agha did not wait for the game to settle; opened with off-spin and dismissed Abhishek Sharma for a duck in the very first over in Colombo.
The Netherlands took this pattern further. Aryan Dutt removed both Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan in the Powerplay in Mumbai.
India survived those matches but the warning signs were unmistakable. The decisive blow finally fell against South Africa in the Super Eight stage. They too started off-spin. Aiden Markram struck early in Ahmedabad and removed Kishan early on. Chasing 188, India never recovered. The 76-run defeat exposed the weakness that had been building in the shadows.
Numbers be damned. In that tournament, India lost 19 wickets to spin, with 12 of them falling at the break. Even more disturbing? India’s opening partnership managed just 34 runs in five matches – the fewest of any 20-team team – as the part-timers found ways to strike early.
For a team built on aggressive starts, this statistic says it all. India have registered four totals of more than 250 in T20I history, three of which have come under the current leadership. They have successfully created a destructive batting unit and their openers have been the backbone of this dominance.
But World Cups are a different animal. Pitches offer grip. The borders seem bigger to me. The margin for error will shrink.
MENTAL BACKUP?
Individually, India’s left-handers remain exceptional players of spin.
Abhishek Sharma has a career average of 48 against spin and 44.25 against right-arm spinners.
Kishan averages 37.29 against spin and 35.26 against right-arm spin.
Tilak Varma averages 22.45 against spin and 20.37 against right-arm spin. Tilak, though less dominant statistically, remains one of India’s most gifted middle-order players.
But this tournament rewrote those formulas. It created a psychological barrier where opposing teams don’t need complex plans – they just need a timely shutdown.
Zimbabwean all-rounder Ryan Burl confirmed that the Chevrons are doing their homework on how to use their spin battery to disrupt India, admitting that India’s woes against the break are now well documented.
“First of all, thank you for recognizing that Zimbabwe have quality spinners. That’s a nice compliment of course,” Burl said on the eve of the T20 World Cup in Chennai.
“No, of course we do a lot of homework. It’s not like we’re doing more homework or less homework just because it’s India. We’re taking each game as it comes. I won’t give away too many secrets about how we’re going to prepare for tomorrow, but yes, what you said is obviously on point and it’s something we’re aware of.”
IS SAMSON THE SOLUTION?
This brings India back to Sanju Samson. Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak admitted that the team is aware of the tactical pattern and confirmed that the reintegration of Samson discussed above.
“There can be changes, yes,” Kotak said on Wednesday.
“And of course we’ve discussed it because there’s two vacancies, number three is left-arm and the opposition bowling off-spin. I personally don’t think there’s any problem there either. But because we’ve lost – three matches, we’ve lost wickets in the first over, obviously every team would think (to bring in off-spin). Yes, there will definitely be thoughts.”
Kotak acknowledged that India now fully expects this tactic.
“Obviously we are preparing, talking and planning what opposition is trying to throw at them,” he added. “They’re going to bowl off-spinner, pacers bowl off-stump. Of course you’d know all that too. It’s not hard to tell. So, to be honest, I don’t care too much about anything.”
Samson’s average against spin is modest (22.53), but underneath is a telling detail: he has only been dismissed by off-spinners twice in his entire career. More importantly, his presence breaks up the monotony of the lineup.
His removal in January was based on form. His return, if it happens, will be purely tactical. And it will be a necessary recalibration to ensure that India’s aggressive left-wing revolution does not step right into the right-hand trap.
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Published on:
February 26, 2026
