Indian wicket-keeper bat Rishabh Pant has backed India, Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan to qualify for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2026. Pant said there are 90% chances that India would be able to defend their World Cup crown.
India have been in red-hot form as they recently won the T20I series against New Zealand by 4-1. Suryakumar Yadav’s team has suffered only four losses since the start of 2025 and have been a force to reckon with.
On the other hand, South Africa recently registered a 2-1 series win against the West Indies. Australia, however, suffered a 3-0 series loss against Pakistan but didn’t play with their full strength team.
Afghanistan recently registered a 2-1 series win against the West Indies in Dubai.
Rishabh Pant said on Sports Tak’s YouTube Channel, “Australia and South Africa, the fourth team should be Asian – Afghanistan.
“90 percent chances for India [to win the title],” he added.
Pant also came up with a one-word to best describe his teammates. While he picked Sanju Samson and Rinku Singh as team man, he rated Arshdeep Singh as a guile bowler. Singh recently picked up eight wickets in four games against the Kiwis. The left-arm seamer is India’s leading wicket-taker in the T20I format with 118 scalps in 76 games.
Ishan Kishan – Cute
Abhishek Sharma – Handsome
Sanju Samson – Team man
Rinku Singh – Amazing team man
Shivam Dube – Impact player
Hardik Pandya – Outrageous and outstanding
Tilak Varma – Brave
Washington Sundar – Smart package
Arshdeep Singh – Intelligent bowler
Meanwhile, Pant was part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2024 under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy.
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against the USA on February 7.
