T20 World Cup 2026: Why is Axar Patel not playing in India vs Netherlands?

India are playing their final group-stage match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in Match No. 36 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 18. Having already sealed qualification for the Super 8 stage, India will be looking to carry momentum forward and fine-tune combinations ahead of the knockouts.

India opted put to bat first, backing their batting depth on what appears to be a good surface. The Men in Blue made a couple of changes to their Playing XI with an eye on balance and workload management , as Arshdeep Singh replaced Kuldeep Yadav while Washington Sundar came in to play his first game of the tournament in place of Axar Patel.

Toss Update

India won the toss and elected to bat first, backing the surface to play true and offer value for runs. As conditions look good for batting, India would look to put pressure on the bowlers to defend the total.

Why did Axar Patel miss out on playing in India vs Netherlands, Match 36 of the T20 World Cup 2026?

Axar Patel was rested as part of India’s squad rotation, with qualification already secured for the Super 8 stage. Washington Sundar was brought into the Playing XI to offer a like-for-like all-round option while managing Axar’s workload ahead of the knockouts.

What did the captains say?

Suryakumar Yadav, India captain

We are going to bat first. Looks a good surface, we practiced here last night, there was a little bit of dew, so hopefully we get runs on the board and try and defend it because we’re going to play the game on a similar strip 2 or 3 days later, so why not put bowlers under a little bit of pressure. (happy with how things have gone?) Absolutely, I mean, the mood in the camp is amazing. Boys are turning up really nicely, and the brand of cricket which I want them to play, I think they’re responding it really well. (new performer in every game) Every game there’s someone or the other raising their hand, taking the fight out, so it’s good to see. Hopefully a new Man of the Match tonight and then we go into the Super 8. We have two changes – Arshdeep comes in for Kuldeep, Axar is resting and Washington comes in.

Scott Edwards, Netherlands captain

Yeah, we would (have batted). Also looks like pretty good wickets. (what are you looking for from this game?) Obviously, yeah, playing in India is always an awesome experience. We feel like we’ve played a lot of good cricket. We’ve probably missed a couple of chances. So, yeah, for us, it’s just about finishing our campaign well. (what are the areas you are trying to improve?) Probably all over the streak now, I think. You know, in patches we’ve been good with the bat and with the ball. But, yeah, just looking to put in a complete performance today. We have one change – Noah Croes comes in for Fred Klaassen.

IND vs NED: Playing XIs

India

Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

Netherlands

Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (wk/c), Zach Lion-Cachet, Noah Croes, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein