T20 World Cup 2026: Captain Madsen still not fit; Italy banking on intel from England for Nepal clash

Italy will be without its regular captain, Wayne Madsen, who has been sidelined due to a dislocated shoulder, but being camped in the same hotel as England will help his team gather intel for the T20 World Cup clash against Nepal at the Wankhede Stadium.

Debutant Italy will take on Nepal in search of its first win in the T20 World Cup when the two teams face off here in an afternoon match.

On the eve of the game, Madsen confirmed that Harry Manenti, who led Italy in its opening match against Scotland, which it lost by a heavy margin of 73 runs, will continue to step in for him.

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“The scans have been pretty positive for dislocation. I won’t play tomorrow; we’re going to give it another sort of 48-72 hours to let it settle and give myself a chance for next week,” Madsen told reporters at the DY Patil Stadium ahead of Italy’s training session.

“It’s not an ideal situation at the start of the competition. But I’m sort of hopeful that, with a bit of rest, I may be able to play some part in this tournament still. Harry Manenti, our vice-captain, will take over as the captain,” he added.

Former Canada player and current head coach of Italy, John Davison, revealed that the Italians would lean on the information shared by the England camp since they share the same team hotel in Mumbai.

Italy, which played its opening match in Kolkata, could not train at the Wankhede Stadium since England and West Indies are set to play an evening game at the venue.

“A few of the coaches and players have been here before. Fortunate enough to be staying in the same hotel as the English team. So, there were some good conversations this morning about conditions and whatnot, so that helps,” he said.

“Obviously, it’s going to be the first look at the stadium for plenty of the players arriving at the game tomorrow (Thursday), which isn’t ideal, but it is what it is. If we can adapt to the conditions, we’ll play well,” Davison added.

Madsen said Italy aims to take a lot of learnings from this T20 World Cup.

“It really is (about) embracing this moment for us as players, as a cricket nation, and growing from it. Learnings from this is going to be crucial and that’s what we want to get out of it,” he said.

Nepal’s contest against England witnessed more than 17,000 fans in attendance, with the overwhelming majority supporting the Rhinos.

“Clearly, there are a lot of Nepalese supporters who’ve come over and are going to be in the stadium and are going to be supporting their team. And that’s something that we as players have to deal with,” Madsen replied when asked if Nepal would have an advantage over Italy given the crowd support.

“The noise at the Wankhede, looking at the England game was pretty unreal. We’ve got to embrace that and that’s going to be the message to the guys. You’re not going to play in front of atmospheres like this very often,” he added.

Davison said, “We’d much prefer to play in front of 35,000 Nepalese than no one, so it’s a great experience.”

Published on Feb 11, 2026