India vs Pakistan, ICC T20 World Cup 2026: India and Pakistan are expected to come up with special performances when they meet in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, February 15. Both teams have been in promising form and have won their respective first two games.
On the back of the convincing victories over the USA and Namibia, India stand at the top of the Group A points table with four points under their belt. On the other hand, Pakistan will be heading into the match on the back of 32 run-win against the USA. They are placed second in the standings. The upcoming marquee fixture has incredible hype considering the recent controversy in the build-up to the tournament.
On the other hand, there has been a lot of talk around Pakistan's star spinner, Usman Tariq, who has been making headlines with his controversial bowling action. The Men in Green have bolstered their side by including senior players like Babar Azam and Shadab Khan, while Usman Tariq will bring a new challenge with his unique sidearm action.
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Indian batter Ishan Kishan has come up with an interesting statement, talking about the team's preparations to tackle Tariq. "No, I think we have already done the preparation part, and now it is just time to watch the ball and play our natural game (on preparing to play Tariq). So if the ball is there, as a batter, we just feel like going in because it's a T20 game. And we are trying to set a good total on board. But we do have to believe in our strength as well. There's nothing like you have to prepare. I think at this level, we just watch a few videos, and we get an idea of what kind of bowling is going to happen. So we are just keeping it simple," Ishan Kishan said at the post-match presentation.
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Kishan had a remarkable outing against Namibia, playing a fiery knock of 61 runs in just 24 balls on the back of six fours and five sixes.
India have enjoyed an outstanding record against Pakistan in the ICC tournaments against Pakistan over the years. Both teams have faced off eight times in the T20 World Cup 2026, with India having an upper hand after six victories.
India vs Pakistan Squads, ICC T20 World Cup 2026:
India Squad: Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Abhishek Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar
Pakistan Squad: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha (c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Tariq, Abrar Ahmed, Salman Mirza, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Khawaja Nafay