Can USA make the Super Eights again?

vs India, Mumbai, February 7
vs Pakistan, Colombo (SSC), February 10
vs Netherlands, Chennai, February 13
vs Namibia, Chennai, February 15

In 2024, USA, who were co-hosts of the T20 World Cup, made headlines for making the Super Eights through some stellar performances in the group stage which included a Super Over win against former champions Pakistan. Can USA make the Super Eights again?

With two other Associates in their group in 2026 - Netherlands and Namibia - USA will remain optimistic, but they may be nursing some wounds by then. USA have been drawn to open their campaign against India. Three days later, they face Pakistan who are on a high after beating Australia.

In terms of selection the key question will be to identify the right personnel in the middle-order, which will be minus Aaron Jones, who was recently suspended by ICC on corruption charges. Jones was part of the 18 players that trained in Sri Lanka recently. Captain Monank Patel along with head coach Pubudu Dassanayake need to figure whether they are okay with batting order dominated by right-handers or shake things up with the inclusion of former Sri Lankan batter Shehan Jayasuriya. Having shifted to the USA a few years ago. Jayasuriya will be keen to make his debut for them but he last played a a T20 game in 2024 and a T20 international game in 2020.

This World Cup also marks a homecoming for several USA players, including Harmeet Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar and Shubham Ranjane, all of whom were born in India and have played domestic cricket there. Former Delhi batter Milind Kumar will also fancy making impact with prior knowledge of the conditions.

The longstanding crisis at USA Cricket resulting the ICC suspending the board robbed the team of coming into the World Cup well prepared. USA have not played any T20Is since April 2025 when they won the North America T20 Cup. They won eight of the nine matches they played in 2025 although the opposition comprised Oman, Canada, Bermuda and Cayman islands.

Netravalkar has been the go-to bowler in the powerplay and the death for USA. Since 2025, the left-arm seamer has taken 20 wickets in 21 innings (for USA and his teams in the MLC and CPL) at an economy of 8.3 and strike rate of 22.9. Netravalkar played a solitary first-class match for Mumbai before heading to the US, but never played at Wankhede stadium, which will be the venue for the match against India.

Monank has been probably the best batter for USA based on form since 2025. In 22 innings for USA and his team in the MLC, he scored 878 runs at an average of 41.81 and a strike rate of 150.9 including seven fifties and a century.

If USA qualify as a host for the T20 games at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, several players in this squad will want to keep their careers going. Though Netravalkar and Ali Khan, who are in their mid-30s, might find it a bit of a push.

1 Monank Patel (capt), 2 Andries Gous (wk), 3 Saiteja Mukkamalla, 4 Sanjay Krishnamurthi, 5 Milind Kumar/ Shayan Jahangir/Shehan Jayasuriya, 6 Shubham Ranjane, 7 Mohammed Mohsin, 8 Harmeet Singh, 9 Jasdeep Singh, 10 Ali Khan, 11 Saurabh Netravalkar