ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026 | Match 18: India vs Namibia | Preview and Predictions

India will take on Namibia in match 18 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on 12th February 2026. 

Here, we present our preview and predictions for the game.

ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026 Group A | Match 18: India vs Namibia | 19:00 IST, February 12, 2026

Hosts and defending champions India got off to a winning start, however, they were made to sweat by a resilient USA side that had different plans in store for the hosts. 

Having lost the swashbuckling Abhishek Sharma for a duck in the second over, both Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma steadied the ship before three wickets in the sixth over by Shadley van Schalkwyk rocked India back with the hosts reeling at 46-4 at the end of the PowerPlay. With very little contribution from the rest of the lower order batters, it was skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s unbeaten knock of 84 off 49 balls that took them past the 160-mark. 

Despite Jasprit Bumrah not playing, Mohammad Siraj in his first game back alongside Arshdeep Singh dismantled the USA top order before the spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel sealed the deal in the middle overs with some quality bowling and discipline. 

As for their opponents, Namibia, the African side faced the Netherlands in their opening Group A fixture and were comfortably beaten by the Dutch thanks to a magnificent all-round performance by Bas De Leede. 

Asked to bat first, Namibia – after losing an early wicket – stabilised to 95-2 at the end of the 12th over. However, losing wickets at a regular interval towards the back end meant Gerhard Erasmus’ side could only muster 156 which was at least 20 runs below par. 

With the ball, Bernard Scholtz and Ruben Trumpelmann were the pick of the bowlers, however, with a modest total in front, the Dutch batters didn’t really have to take any undue risks that could jeopardise the chase. Against a quality opposition like team India, the Namibian bowlers will have to do a lot better if they want to stand any chance of causing an upset.  

In terms of weather forecast and pitch report, expect conditions to be clear throughout the game. As evident from the last game here at this venue, despite shorter boundaries, there should be something for both batters and bowlers throughout the 40 overs. 

Looking ahead to this fixture, that first game against the USA was certainly a wake up call for team India and a timely reminder that if you’re not on your game anyone can beat you on any given day. That said, this Namibian side aren’t as strong as the likes of USA and Netherlands in this group, and thus we expect Surya and his men to make it two-in-two and head into the India-Pakistan clash with confidence behind them. 

Fantasy XI: Ishan Kishan (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma (vc), Gerhard Erasmus, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ruben Trumpelmann, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Bernard Scholtz 

Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi 
Winners Prediction: India