India eye unbeaten finish as Netherlands pose the final group stage test in T20 World Cup 2026

The defending champions of the T20 World Cup will take the field for their final group stage game in less than 24 hours as they lock horns with the Netherlands. With three wins in three games, Team India will be hopeful of closing the group stages strongly. Meanwhile, the Orange brigade will eye a historic upset, even though it won't affect the Men in Blue's qualification.

With their win over Pakistan, India stormed through the Super Eights, courtesy of a superlative NRR. SKY and company enjoy a Net Run Rate of +3.050 while their closest pursuers, the USA and Pakistan, have NRRs of +0.788 and -0.403 respectively. The Netherlands, currently in fourth position, have one win and will push hard to create history.

India’s collective brilliance has somehow been shaken in the T20 World Cup. However, individual performers have stood out with Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya saving the day for the hosts across the three games. The Men in Blue will hope Abhishek Sharma returns to form, as the hard-hitting southpaw has struggled to find his stride in the tournament.

India might go for a few changes to their side, considering the fact that they have already qualified for the Super Eights. With Sanju Samson and Mohammed Siraj - who delivered an absolute masterclass with the ball against the USA - in the dugout, they might return while India keep their core group of players intact to maintain the momentum.

Venue watch:

The surface in Ahmedabad has been fairly tricky one for the batters in the first half of the game. With the ball sticking in the surface, batters will have to be watchful before playing their shots. Spinners will add further trouble for the batters if the shots aren’t chosen wisely. The second half of the game will see life becoming a lot easier for the batters as the dew tends to quicken things a bit while the spinners might have challenges in gripping the ball.

Match details:

Match – India vs Netherlands, ICC T20 World Cup, 2026

Venue – Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

Date –18th February, 2026

Time – 7:00 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played – 1

India – 1

Netherlands - 0

Squads:

India:

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh

Netherlands:

Scott Edwards (c & wk), Colin Ackermann, Noah Croes, Bas de Leede, Aryan Dutt, Fred Klaassen, Kyle Klein, Michael Levitt, Zach Lion-Cachet, Max O'Dowd, Logan van Beek, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Saqib Zulfiqar