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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
India’s Hardik Pandya (R) celebrates with Axar Patel (L) and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan after taking the wicket of Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan during the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup group stage match between India and Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on February 15, 2026. <\/p>\n
India captain Suryakumar Yadav is looking for some big potential XI changes for the team\u2019s T20 World Cup Final against New Zealand on Sunday.<\/p>\n
India returned to the final after a thrilling win over England in the semifinal, but some concerns lingered over the performance of some players. Yadav hinted that the team would be shifting around its XI for the winner-take-all game.<\/p>\n
Suryakumar Yadav Says Changes Are Coming<\/p>\n
Addressing reporters at a press conference before the T20 World Cup final, the Indian captain soothed fears about some of their underperforming players, saying some players are bound to be up or down.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing to worry for now,\u201d Suryakumar said, via First Post<\/a>. \u201cWe don\u2019t think about it once we win. Collective efforts matter and we are not worrying about it. Ups and downs are part of this game and everyone in the playing XI cannot have a good day every time. The others are there to cover for it. I am not worried about his form. He is the world No. 1 bowler and he knows how to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n But when asked specifically whether India could change their XI for the match against New Zealand,\u00a0Suryakumar remained tight-lipped.<\/p>\n \u201cSee the changes tomorrow. You want to know everything right away,\u201d he told reporters with a smile.<\/p>\n The Indian team has the chance to make history on Sunday. After winning the T20 World Cup\u2019s last tournament, they will try to become the first team in history to defend a title, and the first to win it at home.<\/p>\n India already showed mettle in the tournament, rebounding from a Super Eight loss to South Africa by 76 runs to go on a run that has now brough them to the final.<\/p>\n Abhishek Sharma\u2019s Performance Raises Concern<\/p>\n One of the biggest questions for the T20 World Cup final is the performance of opener Abhishek Sharma. India off-spinner\u00a0Ravichandran Ashwin said he believed the team should stick by him despite four dismissals in this tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cAbhishek Sharma has that factor. In the series against New Zealand, he was in top form,\u201d Ashwin said on his YouTube channel, via the Times of India<\/a>. \u201cHe has batted well against Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry in the past. So I wouldn\u2019t be too fussed about Abhishek. But I would like to have a conversation with him. I would tell him, \u2018Listen, there\u2019s a plan against you.\u2019 So don\u2019t try hard to hit the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharma was dismissed in the team\u2019s semifinal win over England, but Ashwin said it was due to an overly aggressive approach instead of a lack of skills, the report added.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the semi-final against England, I think it was headless batting from him. I am a big fan of his gameplay,\u201d Ashwin said. \u201cHe scored eight runs against Jacks, but he intended to score 30 runs against him. Sometimes, you have to leave the ball. Sanju Samson is going so well at the other end, so you just need to take the single and get to the other end. You will get your tee time.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tNathan Dougherty<\/a> is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Cricket\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty India’s Hardik Pandya (R) celebrates with Axar Patel (L) and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan after taking the wicket…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-526103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}