ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026 | Match 52: India vs West Indies | Preview and Prediction

The stakes could never be more higher as India and West Indies pit their wits in what is going to be a straight shoot-out between the two sides for a spot in the semifinals in what is bound to be an absolutely high-voltage and high-action Match Number 52 of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

Here is our Preview and Prediction for the game.

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 | Match 52: India vs West Indies  | 19:00, 01 March

Just when it felt like India’s chances of making the semifinals would be dependent on other results, South Africa’s win over the West Indies coupled with their own crushing win against Zimbabwe means that their fate is in their own hands in this tournament, just the way they wanted it to be.

India’s win against Zimbabwe finally saw the much-vaunted batting lineup come out of their funk and put in some good runs and momentum under their belt. Every single batter managed to get runs under their belt, and the strike rates for each batsman was well over 150, something that the Indian batters pride themselves on off late as they mounted their highest-ever T20 World Cup score, surpassing the 218 they made against England in 2008, and just 4 runs short of the record of 260 set by Sri Lanka in 2007.

However, the introduction of Sanju Samson in the line-up along with Axar Patel seemed to reinvigorate the entire playing 11, giving it much better balance and stability than it had in the earlier parts of the tournament. Samson’s inclusion meant that India managed to nullify the threat of exposing all their left-handed batsmen to off-spin very early in the innings, with Kishan dropping down to 3 and Tilak to 5, enabling India to have batting balance throughout.

India could potentially be without the services of designated finisher Rinku Singh, following the passing away of his father. It remains to be seen who will take his place in the 11, and that will probably be a very crucial call given the conditions that will be on offer at Kolkata and the dimensions of the ground. But India will definitely feel the heat of the game as they look to take a giant step towards defending their crown.

West Indies, meanwhile, will look back at their drubbing against South Africa and think that they should have done a much better job with their batting. On an Ahmedabad pitch that had some lovely carry and with the ball coming rather nicely onto the bat, the Windies contrived to lose wickets in an absolute heap. 4 wickets in the powerplay and 7 within 12 overs.

It took some rather special batting pyrotechnics from Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd to take them to a respectable score of 176, but skipper Shai Hope was spot on in his assessment that they left around 40-50 runs out there in the middle, but it wouldn’t have made a big difference because each and every one of their bowlers were ruthlessly dispatched by a clinical South African batting unit.

However, West Indies on a personal level have pretty fond memories of Kolkata. It is the place where they won their second T20 World Title, and they also have a slight advantage of playing here in this tournament, and at the stage they find themselves in, they will happily take any advantage that they have with both hands.

Another factor which could just make things interesting is the head-to-head record between the two sides in T20 World Cups, and that is also pretty skewed in favour of the Caribbean boys. West Indies have beaten India 3 out of the 4 times in the tournament, with the last one being that semifinal in 2016 en route to winning the title in Kolkata.

These are two high-quality sides, stacked with match-winners and game-changers in every department whatsoever. The prize for both sides is as clear as day: win, and you go through. Lose, and you go home. With all things said and done, we believe it is India who will start as favourites and go through to the semifinals of the World Cup.

Fantasy 11: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shimron Hetmyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Jason Holder, Jasprit Bumrah, Gudakesh Motie, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Akeal Hosein.

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Winners Prediction: India.