Bumrah set to play against Namibia; India wait on Abhishek and Washington

Jasprit Bumrah is set to play India's second game of the 2026 T20 World Cup against Namibia on Thursday after missing the opener against USA due to illness. He took part in India's training in Delhi on Tuesday and bowled at full tilt.

While Bumrah is on his way back to full fitness, India are waiting on opener Abhishek Sharma and allrounder Washington Sundar.

Abhishek was out for a first-ball duck against USA and did not take the field thereafter. According to India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, he is still recovering from a stomach bug. Washington had suffered a side tear during the home white-ball series against New Zealand in January but joined the squad on Monday. He bowled at the nets on Tuesday and batted too, facing throwdowns towards the end of the session.

"Washington joined the team yesterday," ten Doeschate said. "He'll train today. Abhi (Abhishek) still has got a few issues with his tummy. We are hopeful that he'll be available for the game in two days' time and Booms (Bumrah) will bowl today as well. He's been what, ten days without bowling, but he's feeling a lot better and moving a lot better. So we'll see how training goes today and tomorrow and then put the team together on Friday."

As an allrounder, ten Doeschate said Washington can fit into various team combinations. "He does fit into one of our combinations where we can play three spinners," he said. "The luxury of having four allrounders in the squad is that you can change the combination. So there's combinations where he fits into three or the combination where he replaces one of the spinners. And again, I think more around what we have available for this next game is going to be important."

If Abhishek fails to recover in time, India have the option of opening with Sanju Samson, who was replaced by Ishan Kishan after a run of low scores against New Zealand last month. Samson batted alongside Kishan; they were the first to have a hit in the nets along with Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma.

"We're waiting on Abhi's fitness more than anything and that'll open up, again, a few different combinations," ten Doeschate said. "But some of his qualities, and the way he (Washington) used the new ball in the South Africa series before he was injured, that certainly add another string to his bow and something we can utilise in these conditions."

The first match of the World Cup in Delhi - a day game between Namibia and Netherlands- offered the bowlers a lot of grip, turn and bounce. While the pitch for the India-Namibia match will be a fresh one, and the game in the evening, ten Doeschate did not expect much difference in behaviour. Delhi is one of the fastest-scoring venues in the IPL, but the temperatures in April and May allow for flatter pitches.

The Wankhede Stadium, too, is usually batter friendly but India slipped against USA before a Suryakumar special took them from 77 for 6 to 161 for 9.

"Modern-day batter's instinct is to hit every ball and hit for a six," ten Doeschate said. "There are times where you have to apply yourself. And I thought that wicket in Mumbai did call out for a bit more application and maybe a change in strategy. Particularly, the situations we found ourselves in, losing three wickets in the last over of the powerplay and then being six down at 70, did need an adaptation.

"And this format, if you're shooting for 250 all the time, you're going to make mistakes and we have to accept that. It's almost an admissible mistake, which we allow for. But judging how the wickets have played in these first five or six days of the tournament, there might be a slight revision in strategy and how we go about things."

India have the opportunity to become the first team to defend the T20 World Cup title and that, too, in familiar conditions. Does that add pressure to play in a certain manner? "We want to play a certain way of cricket, and now it does feel like a better World Cup. I think that first outing in Mumbai was a nice shake-up, a nice wake-up. When you find yourself 77 for 6, you realise you're starting the World Cup defence. We certainly know we're in a World Cup now."

India also raised eyebrows when they sent in Axar Patel at No. 8 against USA despite the allrounder having played match-turning roles in the middle-order to arrest collapses in the past, none more memorable than the 2024 T20 World Cup final in Barbados against South Africa.

"Our standard operating procedure has been when we lose two or three wickets in the powerplay to use him (Axar)," ten Doeschate said. "He's been our stop-gap player. We just had a hunch the other night that we wanted to get Rinku a bit of game time as well.

"We want guys to be adaptable and versatile to be able to bat in different situations, different positions. But a lesson maybe from the other night is that we stick with what we have done over the last 12 months. And Axar has been very good at that. His game's well-suited to that role. And going forward, you're more likely to see Axar coming in if we find ourselves in trouble."