Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Parthiv Patel expressed his surprise with India’s batting order after the Men in Blue registered a 29-run win against the USA in the T20 World Cup 2026 on Saturday. Patel said India’s top three batters should bat aggressively but the other batters need to play according to the match and pitch condition.
The Gujarat Titans assistant coach noted that the Wankhede pitch was tacky and run-scoring wasn’t easy. The former gloveman said Rinku Singh should have batted ahead of Shivam Dube, who was dismissed for a golden duck.
“There was definitely a scare yesterday in that game for sure. I thought the wicket wasn’t as expected. It was a slightly tacky wicket. That’s when batters had to put their heads down and try and give themselves a bit of time. I am okay if the top three are batting the way we have been batting. However, if we lose two wickets early, we have to assess the situation and try and get to a respectable total,” the former India wicketkeeper-batter said on Star Sports.
“I was slightly surprised with the batting order as well. We have seen Rinku Singh is someone who can actually hold one end and try and get as many runs as we want. He has always got those fifties when the chips were down. That’s why I was surprised to see Shivam Dube coming ahead of Rinku Singh,” he added.
Patel urged the Indian batting order to assess the batting conditions and play accordingly while not changing their aggressive approach.
“I think mainly try and assess those conditions. I still feel India should play the way they have been playing because that’s something their philosophy has been throughout coming into this World Cup. I don’t think there is a need to change, but if it’s 40/4, you have to try and take those singles. You have to give yourself a couple of overs, and then things become easy,” he responded.
“It is just about understanding that situation, understanding that there is pressure on you, but you have to ride through it. As I said before also, if a situation like this comes, I think Rinku Singh is your guy who has got runs in first-class cricket and List A cricket, who knows how to grind even in the T20 format. So you can use him as a floater,” Parthiv observed.
India will next take on Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on February 12.
