Salman Agha of Pakistan will face Suryakumar Yadav of India in the high-voltage T20 match, which will be played in Colombo on Sunday. The ICC and PCB have been negotiating with the game and have finally agreed to proceed with the game after numerous off-field talks.
Real focus will be on how India’s power-packed line-up will deal with the spin attack of Pakistan. But several reports forecast that it is going to rain between 1 and 7 PM in Colombo.
The match between the arch-rivals will be held in the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. According to the weather prediction, there is a threat of rain in the game. Currently, there are some dark clouds over the venue, but the positive sign is that there is no rain. The game will begin at 7 PM IST, and the toss will begin 30 minutes before the game begins.
Colombo pitch has been traditionally favorable to spinners over the years, and Sunday will not be any different. Indian batting in recent years has been playing on surfaces that were true, and has not been playing on pitches that they may face during Colombo.
The team is also well-formed and will seek to adjust and address the conditions. According to Pakistan, whenever they encountered India in the Asia Cup 2025 in September, when they had some periods of dominance in the game, they could not maintain consistent pressure on India.
The Men in Green batting had a difficult time coping with the Indian spinners in the middle overs.
India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup: Mohammad Kaif reacts to Hardik Pandya
Mohammad Kaif, posted on X, “For me Hardik Pandya will always remain the man for India in big games. Finals of 2024 World T20 and Champions Trophy, he made the difference. Focus is never on him but he proves to be the game-changer.”
India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup, similar reactions on the IND vs PAK match
For the uninitiated, this isn’t the only India vs Pakistan encounter on Sunday. The two nations also faced off in a Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars match where India skittled out Pakistan for 93 runs and then chased down the target with ease in just 10.1 overs.
Sanjay Manjrekar reacts to handshake drama
Sanjay Manjrekar wrote on X, “This ‘no shaking hands’ is such a silly thing that India has started. It’s unbecoming of a nation like ours. Either play properly within the spirit of the game or don’t play at all.”
India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup Reactions: Changes likely in India Playing XI
Kuldeep Yadav to make his way back into the playing eleven in place of pacer Arshdeep Singh; therefore, Abhishek Sharma will open the innings as India take on Pakistan in the much-awaited ICC T20 World Cup game in Colombo today.
India is facing Pakistan in a T20 WC without Rohit and Kohli
As India prepares to face Pakistan in the 2026 T20 World Cup fixture in Colombo later in the evening, the event will be the first time the arch-rivals will be contesting a World Cup match without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the India playing XI.
The previous instance where both players were not part of the team in a T20 World Cup match against Pakistan was the 2007 group stage match at Durban, which India won following a bowl-out after the two sides were level at the conclusion of the Pakistan innings.
IND vs PAK clash
Finally, the Asia Cup of September, which saw cricket becoming an Indo-Pak cold war in colour-clothing and under floodlights, just days after the actual one in fatigues under the darkness, writes Sandeep Dwivedi in his weekly newsletter.
As India vs Pakistan Sunday nears, the pre-match apprehensions are now tragically non-cricketing. Will the teams shake hands? Will Suryakumar Yadav offer tributes to the armed forces at the press conference? Will Pakistan players be mimicking fighter jets in free fall or using bats like guns?
India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup: Suryakumar Yadav responds to the match and ‘No Handshake’
Suryakumar stated, “They have been playing some good cricket. I watched their last two matches, but not much before that. I’ve been hearing that they have been playing well. At the same time, we have been playing well also, we will stick to our preparations.”
He added, “Whatever game you play, there is pressure. When you play Pakistan, it is about the occasion. Whatever you say, we don’t play them often, so when we do, it becomes an occasion. We will try to keep it simple and put our best foot forward.”
“If they (Pakistan want) we will play him,” Suryakumar said, keeping his retort short. With regards to the handshakes, too he kept it simple: “Wait for 24 hours. Eat well, sleep well, we will see tomorrow,” he said. Earlier, Agha had also spoke on the same lines when asked if his team would respond if India chose to shake hands. “We will see it tomorrow.”
The Indian cricket team will shake hands with the Pakistan players in the group game of the ICC T20 World Cup, which will be hosted in Colombo today.
The Indian Express reports that the team will be in a status quo in the handshaking tradition, and that captain Suryakumar Yadav is not expected to take the initiative to offer a formal handshake to his Pakistani rival Salman Agha.
India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup’s Rain Prediction
Live visuals from Colombo indicate that the skies are grey with plenty of cloud cover over the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
After weeks of a metaphorical cloud over the India vs Pakistan clash, there will now be literal clouds over the game.
India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup: Usman Tariq is influenced by MS Dhoni’s biopic movie
Pakistan off-spinner Usman Tariq’s action has been under the scanner of late, but a little is known about the other side of the cricketer who left his country to do a salesman job in Dubai was inspired by the Indian Bollywood film former Indian skipper MS Dhoni’s biopic “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story” to pursue his cricket aspirations again.
Tariq told AFP, “I had left behind thinking of making a name in cricket, but one day I watched this film, and it convinced me that I can also do the same.”
Clarity on handshakes awaited as neutral Colombo gears up for cricket and some rain
Gabby Whight, the owner of Cricket Cafe, a popular watering hole in the posh Colombo 7 neighbourhood, is gearing up to welcome her regular clientele for what is expected to be a long and busy Sunday night. A short distance from R Premadasa Stadium, the venue of the eagerly anticipated India versus Pakistan T20 World Cup group-stage match, the social hotspot in the heart of Colombo is a “neutral ground” within a neutral venue for both sides.
Suryakumar Yadav vs spinners
Where the outfield is massive at Premadasa, India’s scoring pockets will be hugely varied from where they usually target. To disrupt the spinners, what batsmen have done on this surface in the three matches here is to use the sweeps to good effect. In this regard, Suryakumar holds the key for India, as being a right-hander, he can neutralise three of their spinners, who all bring the ball in. If he does that, it will also take the pressure away from the left-handed batsmen in the team.
Varun Chakarvarthy vs middle order
While Pakistan’s openers keep up the key for them in batting, their middle-order still tends to play old-fashioned cricket. There will be one Varun to ensure a choke in the middle-overs and pile the pressure through dot balls. Though they have six-hitters at the top, in the middle-order, Pakistan still lacks the firepower, and given the form he is in, Varun can break their back in the middle-overs.
Abrar vs Abhishek
India’s talented left-handed opener is known to give the kind of starts that can win games inside the power play. Opponents, however, have not challenged him by bringing the spinners early on. Meanwhile, Pakistan might change that as they have shown so far in two matches, where spinners are frequently used early on. Abrar’s mystery spin will be a perfect card for Pakistan to throw against Abhishek and possibly make a few early inroads.
Bumrah vs Farhan
In three innings against Bumrah, Farhan has secured 51 runs at a strike rate of 150, such as six boundaries and three sixes. Being the in-form Pakistan batsman, a lot rides on Farhan’s shoulders to provide the rapid start before the middle-order takes over. Having made his intentions clear about taking on the opponent’s best bowler, he has walked the walk against Bumrah. If the pacer takes the new ball, his primary job will be to keep Farhan under check and get off the mark against the opener.
Here is what Salman Ali Agha said at the pre-match press conference
Agha said, “It could be a game where spinners dominate. But fast bowlers will have a big role to play. Will have to use them well.” He added, “Every player is important to us. He is of course bowling well in leagues. He will be our trump card.”
on Tariq’s action, Agha stated,“It doesn’t make a difference. He also doesn’t care about it.”
India have plan against Pakistan’s trump card, Usman Tariq
In a conversation about Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq, India captain Suryakumar Yadav called him a ‘question that is out of the syllabus’.
“Sometimes there is a question in the exam that’s out of the syllabus,” Suryakumar described with characteristic calm at his press conference on Saturday. “We can’t leave that question unanswered. We have to try something, adopt our own way. Yes, he is a different character when he comes to bowl, but we cannot just surrender to him.”
Speaking on the highly anticipated fixture between India and Pakistan, India captain Suryakumar Yadav said there will be pressure, which the team can’t run away from.
Suryakumar said, “Whatever game you play, there is pressure. When you play Pakistan, it is about the occasion. Whatever you say, we don’t play them often, so when we do, it becomes an occasion. We will try to keep it simple and put our best foot forward.”
Ravi Shastri reacts to Babar Azam
Former India cricketer and national team coach Ravi Shastri stated after Pakistan’s narrow win over the Netherlands in their T20 World Cup opener that Babar Azam is fighting the weight of expectations that come along with being at the “stage of his career” that Babar is in.
“When you are at that stage of your career, there’s baggage,” said Shastri in a conversation with Ricky Ponting and Sanjana Ganesan on the latest episode of The ICC Review. “There’s a weight of expectation. People expect you to go out there and deliver. Get out there (and) in your first five balls, I don’t care if you get out, but I want you to make an effort to hit a couple of boundaries. Choose your spot, get into good positions, anticipate what the bowler is doing. You will feel a lot better and things might change.”
Will there be handshakes today?
At the press conferences on Saturday, both Pakistan’s Salman Agha and India’s Suyakumar Yadav were asked about the possibility of captains and players shaking hands during the group stage game on Sunday after the triple snub at the Asia Cup last year from India.
Salman Agha said, “You need sportsmanship. It is up to them what they want to do.”
He responded, “Wait for 24 hours. Eat well, sleep well, we will see tomorrow.”
When pressed about the handshake again, he retorted: “We will break the suspense tomorrow. Is the game important or this? Wait for 24 hours.”
The India-Pakistan cricket rivalry is characterized by a unique psychological intensity, where fan anxiety is a blend of “wishful thinking” and “gnawing dread,” which centers on the high-stakes opening minutes of a match.
Significantly, these encounters are often decided by the initial face-offs between legendary Indian openers and elite Pakistani fast-bowlers, a pattern seen from the era of Gavaskar and Imran Khan to the modern-day duel between Rohit Sharma and Shaheen Afridi.
