IND vs PAK: After escaping a scare from the USA in Mumbai, the Indian cricket team truly asserted themselves in their second group game of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 by thrashing Namibia by a whopping 93 runs in Delhi.
India racked up 209 runs, though at the halfway point they looked to touch 240, before the bowlers cleaned Namibia up for only 116 runs. All-rounder Hardik Pandya bagged the Player of the Match for his swashbuckling 52 (28) with the bat and 2/21 with the ball.
India’s next game is the fixture that is often the most awaited one in the group stage round of any ICC tournament: India vs Pakistan.
The IND vs PAK match in Group A is scheduled to be played on February 15, Sunday, at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Both teams have won two matches each and, barring any upset in their last group game, are expected to proceed to the Super 8 round. Needless to say, the winner of the India vs Pakistan match will seal their spot in the Super 8.
India had made two changes to their playing XI in the previous match: Jasprit Bumrah recovered from his illness and replaced Mohammed Siraj, and Sanju Samson got an opportunity as Abhishek Sharma was down with a stomach infection.
IND vs PAK: Will Abhishek Sharma play against Pakistan?
Abhishek has travelled with the Indian team to Colombo, but two days out from the match, no update is available regarding his availability for the Pakistan match. India captain Suryakumar Yadav had said at the toss ahead of the match against Namibia that Abhishek “will miss a game or two,” which means his recovery period could mean that he may miss Sunday’s clash against Pakistan.
However, after the India vs Namibia game, spinner Varun Chakravarthy contradicted Suryakumar’s words, saying, “I think he (Abhishek) will play the next match. I don’t know. As far as I have spoken to him, he looks good. He did some practice today. He said he is on the way.”
Samson played a breezy cameo of 22 runs off 8 balls. But that won’t be enough to keep him in the side if Abhishek is cleared fit to play against Pakistan; if Abhishek doesn’t make it, then Samson will retain his position for one more match at least.
While Abhishek’s availability is left to the team doctors, the team management, headed by Suryakumar and Gautam Gambhir, would ponder at length over playing an extra spinner.
The venue for the IND vs PAK encounter, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, is known to assist the spinners significantly more than pacers. However, in this competition, it’s been neck-and-neck so far.
In three matches so far at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, in this T20 World Cup, spinners claimed 20 wickets at an average of 25, and seamers picked up 21 wickets at 19.
Pakistan have come prepared with a spin-heavy arsenal, with their playing XI against USA including five spin options: Saim Ayub, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, and Usman Tariq.
India have played two spinners in their first two matches: Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy. India would want to play a third spinner in Kuldeep Yadav, but that would mean leaving out Arshdeep Singh.
It feels that in the match against Namibia, India were perhaps preparing themselves for the case where they would drop Arshdeep against Pakistan: Hardik Pandya bowled two overs in the powerplay and Shivam Dube also bowled one over in the first six overs.
Both of them returned with impressive bowling figures (2/21 by Hardik and 1/11 by Dube in 2.2 overs). This was a strong reinforcement for the management that they can go into the IND vs PAK match without Arshdeep and rely on Pandya and Dube to fulfill the second pacer’s job.
Not to forget, India excluded Arshdeep from all of their three matches against Pakistan in the Asia Cup last year in Dubai, where conditions were similar to Colombo. In those matches, India backed Pandya and Dube as pacers, with Dube even bowling with the new ball in the final when Hardik was out due to injury.
IND vs PAK: India Playing XI vs Pakistan – Predicted
Sanju Samson/Abhishek Sharma (if fit), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav (likely)/Arshdeep Singh
ICC T20 World Cup: Is there a rain threat on India vs Pakistan match in Colombo?
The Sri Lanka Department of Meteorology has hinted that there is a high risk of rain around the Premadasa stadium in Colombo on Sunday, February 15, the day of the India vs Pakistan match. According to the weather forecast, scattered thunderstorms are forecasted in the afternoon, with a 50-70% chance of rain.
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