Rohit Sharma points out India's biggest challenge going into the T20 World Cup

Former India captain Rohit Sharma has pointed out India's biggest challenge going into the T20 World Cup. Rohit has said that India need to get their combinations right in the tournament.

India go into the T20 World Cup 2026 as favourites to win the tournament. The world No.1 T20I side has been in rampaging form over the past year and is expected to race into the semi-finals of the competition. However, former India captain Rohit Sharma has pointed out that the path may not be as straightforward as it appears.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, Rohit explained what he believes will be India’s biggest challenge. According to him, the team management will be torn between playing two specialist spinners in Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy, or sticking with Varun alone through the tournament.

India have leaned heavily on their spin attack over the last year, with Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel dominating opposition line-ups. Rohit, however, pointed out that the tournament’s timing — during the transition from winter to spring — will bring heavy dew into play during evening matches.

“The biggest challenge for captain Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir will be how to play both Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy together. If you want that combination, you can only do it if you play with two seamers, which is a big challenge,” Rohit Sharma said on Hotstar ahead of the World Cup.

Despite the concerns, the T20 World Cup-winning captain admitted that he would be tempted to play both specialist spinners in the XI.

Playing three spinners would put India in a difficult position in terms of balance. If Axar, Kuldeep and Varun all feature, India would be forced to sacrifice Arshdeep Singh. In that scenario, India would operate with one specialist seamer in Jasprit Bumrah, along with two pace-bowling all-rounders in Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya.