Hardik Pandya has said that the pitches have not been batting friendly in the two matches India have played so far in their home series. T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, adding that the team would like to play on “flatter” wickets. That India still managed to win both matches, and that too by wide margins, reflects their sheer depth, and highlights why they are the favorites to defend the crown.
That said, India were reduced to 46 for 4 in the powerplay against the US on a Wankhede surface that was a bit gripping and holding before Suryakumar Yadav’s counter-attacking 84 off 49 saved them and took India to 161 for 9.
Then against Namibia in Delhi, India made a sensational start, racing to 104 in just seven overs before a spin-forced delay saw them lose their next three wickets for just 20 runs in the next five overs. India still managed 209 before Namibia were dismissed for 116 to record their biggest win in the T20 World Cups. Although after playing two matches on sticky surfaces, Pandya called for flatter wickets.
“Two consecutive deliveries were not batting friendly,” Pandya said as he collected his Player-of-the-Match award. ‘Wicket held on a bit today. Just adapt and put your skills to work. We would like flatter wickets.”
Ishan Kishan echoed Pandya’s sentiments, admitting that the pitch was far from the kind they had played on in the build-up to the tournament. However, he acknowledged that Namibia’s bowlers had caused two collapses, as India fell from 104 for 1 to 124 for 4 and then from 205 for 4 to 209 for 9.
“On both wickets, I felt it was a little different from what we expected,” Kishan said at the press conference. “And today, when we look at the death overs, when we couldn’t hit the big sixes regularly, I think we have to give credit to the Namibian bowlers too because they were great with their yorkers, they were great with their slower ones.”
“So yeah, it was a good learning experience,” Kishan said. “If another team does the same, maybe we can use the crease more or we can do something different, which can annoy the bowler. So it was a good learning experience in this match and I think mainly it was not about our batters not being able to hit sixes, but that they bowled very well more often in the death overs.”
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