Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh and Axar Patel. (Photo Credits: X)
India suffered a massive blow as middle-order batter Rinku Singh returned home due to a family emergency ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 match against Zimbabwe scheduled to take place on Thursday in Chennai. According to PTI, Rinku was not present at India’s training session at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday, February 24.
“Rinku Singh has flown back home from Chennai due to a family emergency. He did not join India’s practice session at the Chepauk,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by PTI.
As per PTI sources, “Rinku’s father Khanchand Singh is reportedly admitted to a hospital in Greater Noida in serious condition, and hence the player had to rush back.”
Rinku Singh is likely to miss the clash against Zimbabwe. Now, the bigger question for the team management is who replaces him? Surprisingly, Team India had played Washington Sundar ahead of vice-captain Axar Patel in the Super 8 match against South Africa. But the decision didn’t really give any good results as he only managed to score 11 runs and gave away 17 in just two overs.
The coaching and the team management later faced back lash for their decision. India have Axar and Sanju Samson waiting in the wings. Axar is a left-handed batter and plays in the middle-order. Moreover, with Axar in the Playing XI, the captain gets one more bowler who would chip in with his quota of 4 overs. So, he might find a place ahead of Sanju in the Playing XI.
If the team management wants to accommodate Sanju Samson in the final XI, the only option would be drop Abhishek Sharma who hasn’t been in form recently. He has three 0s in four matches that he has played so far in the tournament. While there hasn’t been any official word from the management on Samson replacing Abhishek in the XI, the aggressive left-handed batter’s form is surely a concern.
Predicted XI: Ishan Kishan (WK), Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy
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