Why are Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel not playing today in IND vs NED T20 World Cup 2026 game?

Hosts India are ready for their last group stage match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, where the Men in Blue are facing the Netherlands in Ahmedabad on Wednesday evening (February 18). Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav are on the bench for the match, and we will know the reason for their absence in the fixture. 

The Super Eight fixtures have been confirmed, with all eight teams having qualified for the next round. India have dominated in the group stage, as they defeated the United States of America by 29 runs in their tournament opener before thrashing Namibia and Pakistan by 93 runs and 61 runs, respectively. 

As hosts India have secured their Super Eight stage place, and are very likely to finish on top of the Group A points table, even if they suffer a defeat against the Netherlands on Wednesday (February 18). As the seeded team, India will participate in Group 1 in the Super Eight stage, where their other challengers will be South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the West Indies. 

See Also: ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, Group A - IND vs NED: Toss Update and Playing XI

ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, IND vs NED: Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel are not playing

As the Netherlands match will not affect India's status in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, the Men in Blues have gone with little experimental changes. So, both Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel have been benched to utilise the other players, not any injury-forced change.

Arshdeep Singh and Washington Sundar return

The left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh has returned to the team. In India's last match against Pakistan last Sunday (February 15), while the Colombo RPS venue produced a spin-friendly pitch, Suryakumar Yadav-led India went with one extra spinner, Kuldeep Yadav, benching the left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh. However, for the Netherlands match, Arshdeep has returned to his place, while Kuldeep has to leave the place after delivering the bowling figures of 3-0-14-1.

Meanwhile, India have also benched the vice-captain Axar Patel for the match, as Washington Sundar has finally got a game time in the tournament, while it became a close to like-for-like replacement for India.