News
26 February 2026, 8:23 pm – roughly five hours after stumps
India’s dressing-room has felt a bit Caribbean all week. On the field the batters keep talking about sixes first, questions later; off it, everyone piled into the team room on Thursday to watch Shai Hope’s West Indies lose to South Africa – a result that cleared a little of the T20 World Cup traffic in Group 1.
“If a wicket falls, I will hit a six next ball. And then I will see for a four,” Tilak Varma grinned, summing up the philosophy that has taken India to a virtual quarter-final against the West Indies in Kolkata on Sunday.
Arshdeep Singh watched the South Africa–West Indies match with relatives. “My family was also in the room,” he laughed. “And whenever a West Indies batter hit a six, my dad abused saying, ‘What are you doing?’ I was like, ‘Okay, you just enjoy the match and hope that South Africa win, and that we win both our remaining matches, and play well. The result will take care of itself’. They played really well. Thanks to them for giving us the chance to decide our own fate through the next match. It was fun to watch their game. They played really well, and we’ll try to beat them in the final.”
That South African victory means India can progress by beating West Indies at Eden Gardens – the first T20 World Cup meeting between the sides since 2016. Both camps know, though, that the famous ground can play many tricks. “The brand of cricket we played today and since last year, the same intent we want to keep in the next game as well,” Tilak said. “So if wicket is not good, then we’ll adjust and we’ll keep that intensity on but I would not say we want to score more than 250 but if team is permitting if we get a good start then of course we’ll go for it.”
The bowlers are on board with the plan, even if it leaves them hunting the ball in the stands more often than they might like. “As long as our batters are having fun batting on these wickets, we’re happy,” Arshdeep noted. “We don’t mind being hit for runs. Our game plan over the last year or two has been to score big and then try to defend it. So as long as we keep getting those kinds of wickets where the batsmen can play freely – because we have batting till No. 8 – so as long as they’re getting that freedom from the wicket that they can score runs freely, we are more than happy to do the dirty job.”
That “dirty job” was evident against Zimbabwe in Chennai, where India racked up 256. Tilak’s unbeaten 44 from 18 balls came without the usual warm-up deliveries. “This is a funny game, so mindset is very important,” he explained. “I think we had a mindset that we will wait, if the wicket falls, we will take some …” – he broke off, chuckling at how quickly the plan can change.
The West Indies will not be short of firepower either. They were 83 for 7 in the 10th over against South Africa and still posted 180, proof of their depth. “Not really one gear,” Arshdeep observed. “If you saw them today, they played really nicely in the middle as well, they took the game deep and then made 180 runs. So I guess they can also adapt according to the situation. But looking forward to the game, we’ll see how the wicket plays, what the conditions are like, whatever team we play that day. The focus is right now on recovery.”
Eden Gardens, with its thick humidity and often two-paced pitch, should offer more for the bowlers than Chennai did, though run-making remains possible for anyone brave enough to keep swinging. India fly out early on Friday, giving themselves two full training days.
Balanced risk, then, is the theme – smash-first instincts tempered by a willingness to read conditions. It is a style Tilak and Arshdeep insist they will not abandon now. “The brand of cricket we played today,” Tilak repeated, “we want to keep.”
