T20 World Cup 2026: Moeen Ali suggests changes for India ahead of Pakistan clash, warns against sacrificing batting depth | Exclusive

England all-rounder Moeen Ali has given his take on the changes India should make in their playing XI for the marquee 2026 T20 World Cup clash against Pakistan in Colombo on February 15.

Moeen reckoned that Pakistan would prefer facing Varun Chakravarthy over Kuldeep Yadav; however, he was not confident whether India would give the latter a look-in.

“So, Pakistanis will be good against Varun [Chakravarthy] because they don't mind that type of bowler. Even though Varun is a brilliant bowler. He is a bit different, also. I would not be surprised if he cleans Pakistan up. But I think they would prefer to face him [rather] than Kuldeep. I don't think they like the Kuldeep type of bowler," Moeen said on the latest episode of Mr Cricket UAE podcast.

Asked whether India should drop a batter and compromise on their batting depth to beef up the bowling attack, Moeen stated that it may not be a wise ploy, citing what India faced against USA in their tournament opener at the Wankhede Stadium, where they lost four wickets in the powerplay and had to depend on a special effort from captain Suryakumar Yadav to reach to competitive 161 for 9.

“[On whether India should drop a batter or bowler against Pakistan] I like Rinku Singh. But the problem is, if you take a batsman out of an Indian team, even though they have lots of batters, the tail is still very deep, it is a long tail, so you can't really take a batter out. Especially if the wicket is going to be the slowish type," he said.

Moeen reckoned that the top-order batters have a different sense of freedom when they have a cushion of an extended batting line-up, as the price of their wicket diminishes to some extent. He, however, added that India’s bowlers do not contribute much with the bat and dropping a batter would make their tail that much longer. Although he suggested that the team could drop a batter in case the conditions are heavily skewed in favour of the batters, as bowling depth will be a bigger asset in that situation.

“If it's an absolute belter, then you can potentially take a batter out and [have] an extra cushion for a bowler and then back your batters to bat. But then what happens is, sometimes you see players like Abhishek Sharma, they can go for ball one. And he will go [from] ball one anyway. But players like him, because they have so much batting, he is not worried [about losing his wicket]. We have so much batting. Even if I don't score, the guys can come in and smack me. But you see, when you lose a batter, now there is a bit more responsibility. Not just on him. I don't think [just] with him, because he plays the way he plays with other guys. And then that plays [on the mind of the batters].

Moeen also cited the example of England and how the batting depth enabled their top-order to bat with a no-holds-barred approach.

“So, when we [England] played, we were good. We were good because we batted so deep. With Chris Woakes, these guys coming in at No. 9 and 10. Jofra [Archer] at 10. Sam [Curran]. We had so much batting. So, the batters at the top, they just can go and play. Even if we lose five wickets – for example, I was coming in at No. 7, with Chris Waokes at 8 – we can still play as top order players throughout our careers generally. So, that makes a massive difference in the batter's head," Moeen said.

“The top three [batters] can just go [after the bowlers] and not worry. And actually, we would say, I would say to Jason Roy and whoever he was opening with, just go, don't stop. Just don't stop because even if you get out and somebody asks, we have so much batting, we can still, in the worst-case scenario, get 160.

“You see, when Surya[kumar] got those runs [against USA], they were 60 for 6. How much did they get? [161] Because they have so much batting. So as soon as you lose that batter and you are 60 for 6, you are not 60 for 6, you are 60 for 7 basically. So, that will be the issue now for India. I don't, personally, I don't think they'll bring in Kuldeep. Even though I think they should, I don't think they will," he concluded.