T20 WC: Unchanged Pakistan elect to bowl, Abhishek, Kuldeep return for India
Colombo, Feb 15 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in a high-stakes Group A clash in the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Sunday. As has been the case in India-Pakistan clashes, both captains didn’t shake hands at toss time.
Both sides are unbeaten so far in Group A, with India on top of the standings courtesy due to a superior net run-rate. India overcame a sluggish start against the United States of America (USA) in their opening game in Mumbai before sweeping aside Namibia in New Delhi. Pakistan, who have been stationed in Colombo, laboured past the Netherlands before producing a more assured display in beating the USA.
Defending champions India have brought back fit-again Abhishek Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav in place of Sanju Samson and Arshdeep Singh for the crunch clash. Abhishek had been hospitalised in New Delhi due to stomach infection and missed the clash against Namibia due to his recovery from it.
“We were looking to bat first. We’ve seen the results here, and we’ve batted in the last two games and won both the games defending, so we don’t want to change anything. I think it’s easy to say that it’s just another game, but it is an occasion. These games are always very high stakes, but at the same time, you’ve got to know what you want to do.
“That’s more important. Stay in the present, back your skills, put your A game forward and be yourself. This sport teaches you a lot of things. On a given day, if you’re going well, then anyone can have a good day,” said India captain Suryakumar Yadav.
Pakistan, meanwhile, are fielding an unchanged playing eleven. “It looks a bit tacky, so we feel it will assist the bowlers for the first few overs so we want to use that. We are relaxed in our group and excited for this challenge. Bigger ground than SSC and the pitch is slower than SSC,” said Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha.
India have won seven of their eight Men’s T20 World Cup meetings against Pakistan, whose sole victory came in 2021 when openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan powered them to a 10-wicket triumph in Dubai. All three matches in the World Cup at this venue have been won by the side batting first.
In his pitch report, former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja said speculation over rain disrupting the game had eased with conditions holding steady. He added that there’s an 84-metre straight boundary while square boundaries are at 70 and 74 metres respectively.
Recent matches at the venue have favoured the bowlers, with Blessing Muzarabani and Nathan Ellis both claiming four-wicket hauls as batters struggled against deliveries banged into the pitch.
Playing XIs
India: Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (captain), Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Tariq, and Abrar Ahmed
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