T20 World Cup 2026: 'If they can't defeat West Indies, no one will get IPL contracts' - Ex-India all-batter's huge Remark

Former Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary jokingly said that if the Indian players fail to beat the West Indies in the virtual quarterfinal clash in the T20 World Cup on Sunday, March 1, they should not get Indian Premier League (IPL) contracts.

India won four matches on the trot in the group stage of the T20 World Cup but suffered a setback when they lost to South Africa comprehensively. However, they bounced back with a comfortable win against Zimbabwe to remain in contention for the semi-finals. Meanwhile, the West Indies topped Group C with four matches. They followed it up with a win against Zimbabwe in the Super 8s. However, their winning streak came to an end with a defeat against the Proteas.

Now, the winner of Sunday's clash will march into the knockouts, while the losing team will have to bid farewell to the marquee event.

"India have scored 256 in their last match, so from that position, they should go through. There is no pressure at all. The expectation would be to score over 200 and defeat the West Indies easily. If they can't defeat the West Indies, no one will get IPL contracts," Manoj Tiwary said during a discussion on Cricbuzz.

Virender Sehwag, however, had a different view compared to Tiwary's. The former India opener opined that Suryakumar Yadav's men are not invincible and there is no guarantee that they will come out on top against the Caribbean side.

"It can happen, it is not as if we are invincible and cannot lose to anyone. The other team is also here to play and win. You had one bad day, you lost that day to South Africa. Then we have defeated Zimbabwe, and now if we defeat West Indies, we will qualify with a laugh," Sehwag said.

"Our country is quite emotional, they get emotional quite quickly. After losing just one match, people were reacting as if we lost the World Cup," he added.