The “El Clasico” of cricket returns as India and Pakistan face off in a high-stakes Group A clash at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Both teams enter this fixture undefeated in the tournament so far – India having dispatched the USA and Namibia, while Pakistan secured wins against the Netherlands and USA.
The narrative heading into this match is dominated by two major factors: spin dominance and the looming rain threat. With the R. Premadasa surface traditionally favoring the slower bowlers, the battle between India’s spin quartet (Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar) and Pakistan’s versatile unit (Abrar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Tariq) will likely decide the outcome. Historically, India hold a commanding 7-1 lead over Pakistan in T20 World Cup encounters, but with a new-look Pakistan side led by Salman Ali Agha, the arch-rivals are desperate to flip the script.
IND vs PAK, T20 World Cup 2026: Match Details
- Date and Time: February 15; 7:00 pm IST / 1:30 pm GMT
- Venue: R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
IND vs PAK, Head-to-Head Record in T20Is
Matches played: 16 | India won: 12 | Pakistan won: 3 | No result/Tied: 1
R.Premadasa Stadium Pitch Report
The R. Premadasa pitch features traditional black soil, which typically offers good bounce for openers initially but becomes sluggish and grippy as the match progresses. High-scoring thrillers are rare here; a total of 160–170 is considered highly competitive. Stroke-making becomes difficult in the middle overs, making mystery and finger spinners the most dangerous assets. Since rain chances are high, teams winning the toss might look to bat first.
Squads
India: Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha (c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Khawaja Nafay, Usman Tariq
IND vs PAK, T20 World Cup 2026: Today’s Match Prediction
Case 1:
- India wins the toss and bats first
- India’s powerplay score: 50-60
- India’s total score: 170-180
Case 2:
- Pakistan wins the toss and bats first
- Pakistan’s powerplay score: 40-50
- Pakistan’s total score: 150-160
Match result: Team batting first to win the contest.
Also READ: Mohammad Amir mocks unwell Abhishek Sharma ahead of IND vs PAK T20 World Cup 2026 clash
