Barely 24 hours remain for the most hyped game of T20 World Cup 2026 as India takes on Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday (February 15). A lot of drama is generally expected whenever the arch-rivals come face to face but for this fixture, the drama had started much before. In fact, there was confusion about the game till a week ago due to Pakistan's initial boycott.
Now that the dust has settled over all of PCB's hilarious theatrics, it's time to focus on the cricket. With the game played on a neutral venue in Colombo due to the BCCI-PCB mutual agreement, this contest is set to be a lot closer than most people assume. On paper, India are overwhelming favourites due to their form in this format and recent dominance over Pakistan.
However, the major factor for this contest, as is the case with any cricket match, will be the nature of the pitch. The same surface that was used for the Zimbabwe-Australia game will be reused for the India-Pakistan game. History tells us that used surfaces, especially in Asia, tend to get trickier to bat on.
Early expectations are that the pitch will be slower than the Zimbabwe-Australia game, although that was a morning game. It could be a shootout between the two spin units, and Pakistan potentially have a lot more options than India in this regard. In Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav, India have two of the finest T20I bowlers in the world right now.
Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are the other spin options, and both are efficient options, more so on turning tracks. Pakistan, meanwhile, can boast of more options if the surface takes sharp turn. The man of the moment, Usman Tariq remains their trump card while Abrar Ahmed also is a strong force to reckon with.
Then, there is the mystery of Saim Ayub and the accuracy of Mohammad Nawaz. Additionally, Pakistan also have skipper Salman Ali Agha and all-rounder Shadab Khan as the spin options. That's five strong options to have, as opposed to India's four. A lot will boil down to whichever spin attack fares better in this contest.
Average score batting first at the R Premadasa Stadium is 143 and chasing teams have a stronger win percentage at this venue than teams batting first. Dew is generally a factor but with rain forecast, it might not play a part for this fixture.
