India's perennial spin conundrum: Can't play spin, now can't bowl spin?

India are facing a severe conundrum in the T20 World Cup. Neither have they been able to bat well against spin, nor are they bowling it well in the tournament.

The T20 World Cup 2026 has had India reeling against spin. After dominating bilaterals in the build-up to the World Cup, India have faltered on the grandest stage of all. Not only are India struggling to play spin, against South Africa it seemed that they had forgotten to bowl it as well.

In India, where batting against spin is second nature, India’s problems have emerged in the worst possible manner at the worst possible time. The issue against spin has become so prominent that every single opposition team has now started their attack with an off-spinner.

The results of that have been catastrophic. World No.1 T20I opener Abhishek Sharma has fallen to off-spin twice — against Aryan Dutt and Salman Agha. The disease looks contagious, as in-form batter Ishan Kishan lost his wicket in the same manner against South Africa, trying to muscle Aiden Markram out of the park.

And this comes as highly surprising from a team who have probably faced thousands of overs of spin bowling growing up. They should be masters of the art. Yet a troubling pattern has emerged, one that questions technical ability, tactical thinking, and team composition. Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, the current and former top-ranked T20I batters, have poor strike rates against spin. Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh are on the list as well.

Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull had summed it up during New Zealand's series against India in 2024: "There is a misconception that India is good at playing spin. They are like everyone else. Gone are the days of Sachin, Ganguly, or Dravid. Now, they struggle against good spinners."

Since that great batting era ended, India has been repeatedly troubled by quality spin. The issue has compounded in this edition of the World Cup.