Pak One more Wicket : 03 Wickets

5.40pm local: Abhishek Sharma will return for India after missing the previous game due to a stomach issue. He was doing some visualisation on the pitch, Pratyush says, so it’s pretty much confirmed he’s playing. There will also be a temptation to play an extra spinner in place of a seamer. Kuldeep Yadav has an excellent record against Pakistan and will also enjoy the conditions in Colombo. Pakistan, on the other hand, are likely to stick with the combination they played against USA which included five spinners. One of those five spinners has been in the spotlight for the novelty of his action. Hit pause on whatever you’re doing and go read the piece above.

In terms of qualification, there’s not a whole lot riding on this match. Both teams are unbeaten after playing two games each, and a loss won’t be the end of the world. But a win would mean the world to those who follow and ride the emotion of every boundary that is scored, and every wicket that is taken. The last time these two teams met was in the Asia Cup where India won all three matches against Pakistan, including the final. Each of those contests were emotionally charged, with players from both teams crossing the line at different moments and getting sanctioned for it. The onfield action was competitive as well, with Pakistan getting better and better with each passing game, although they just couldn’t find a way to get over the line. It was the same story in Melbourne and in New York, where India found ways to come from behind and clinch victory from the jaws of defeat. It’s clear where the psychological edge lies. You already must be aware of numbers like 7-1 and 13-3 which have been generously tossed around leading into this game.

Our correspondent, Pratyush Sinha, has reached the venue nice and early: “Hello from Colombo! It’s overcast, it’s humid, but most importantly, it’s been dry all day. Sun peaked out for a little bit but it’s back to being overcast and the lights have been on for a while. The gates opened at 3pm, so the fans have been trickling in since then. There’s heavy, heavy security outside, with as many as 2000 police personnel on duty. There’s also military checkpoints around and heard from a few locals how they barely remember anything like this at the venue.”

Preview by Vijay Tagore

In the Asia Cup, which India blanked Pakistan thrice, there was still a variable of some significance. Pakistan, led by Salman Ali Agha, improved with each outing. The margins of defeat incrementally narrowed – first by seven wickets, then by six, and finally by five wickets, a result that scarcely reflected the closeness of the contest. It ultimately required an extraordinary effort from Tilak Varma to halt what looked like a slow but certain Pakistani resurgence.

Whether Sunday’s fixture will be viewed as a fresh contest or as an extension of that 3-0 sequence, coming as it does in the back of the 13-3 overall record and 7-1 dominance in World Cups, will inevitably be interpreted through different prisms by the two sides. What is beyond doubt, however, is that this Pakistan side is markedly different from the one that turned up in the Asia Cup in Dubai last September. They have since added Usman Tariq, the pause-and-deliver spinner, who is being widely labeled as the opposition’s trump card.

“Okay, I think they’ve been playing some good cricket recently, what I saw in the last two games. I didn’t see any series before that. But then I’ve heard a lot, they’re playing some good cricket,” Suryakumar Yadav said on the eve of the game.

The India skipper’s assessment subtly drifts and diverges from his oft-quoted castigation of the traditional rivalry: “If two teams play 15-20 matches and it is 7-7 or 8-7, then that is called a rivalry.” Implicitly, he seems to suggest that an overwhelming head-to-head record offers no real advantage – psychological or otherwise. But the inference may yet not be quite so straightforward. When Fakhar Zaman was recently asked about the lopsided nature of the head-to-head numbers, the Pakistan opener chose silence.

It will still be a Holy Grail for Pakistan to entertain any hopes of a victory over India. With the expected return of Abhishek Sharma, India’s only conceivable Achilles’ Heel – the opening slot – may have been sorted. Beyond that, there is also a psychological element: Pakistan appear wary of Abhishek, though Salman Agha said, “I really hope he plays tomorrow because we want to face the best players they have, and I hope he is recovering well and can play.”

Suryakumar replied, “If he wants to play, then we’ll play him tomorrow. Done.” In an India-Pakistan game there is always an opportunity to emerge as an overnight hero, like Tilak Varma in that memorable Asia Cup final, and Abhishek should be on the forefront of that race. Hero or otherwise, he will be a huge factor in the game.

There is a new dynamic to Sunday’s fixture. Historically, it has always been Indian batting and Pakistan’s fast bowling. But Agha’s side seems to have disbanded their strong point and fallen back on spin. In the last game, they fielded five spinners – Saim Ayub, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan and Tariq – and a lone pacer – Shaheen Afridi. India are prepared, said Suryakumar.

The other dominant narrative ahead of the game has been Pakistan’s familiarity with the conditions in Colombo. They arrived more than a fortnight ago, while the Indian side touched down barely 24 hours back. If that is an advantage for Pakistan, Agha was not too convinced.

“We are based in Colombo, we are playing all our matches here. I don’t really know how much of an advantage it is. We are used to the conditions, we are acclimatised here. That’s the only advantage,” he said.

The India skipper responded: “I don’t feel there’s an added advantage. Yes, the team has not been traveling here and there, but at the same time they have been moving around in different, different cities and playing the game. We have similar kinds of wickets back home in India also and we have played a lot of cricket here during bilaterals against Sri Lanka. So we are also very familiar with the conditions.”

There is still a catch to that account. Pakistan may have been in Colombo longer, but they will be playing at the R Premadasa Stadium for the first time in this World Cup. In that sense, the venue is as new to them as it is to the Indian side.

All cricketing logic and past records tend to blur when it comes to India-Pakistan, a fixture played under extraordinary pressure. Ultimately, the deciding variable is which side copes better with the P-factor – or succeeds in imposing it on the opposition. Somewhere during his 21-minute pre-match media conference, Suryakumar said, ‘it’s just another game for us.’ That could go down as an understatement of this World Cup.

When: Sunday, February 15, 2026 at 7 PM local time

Where: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

What to expect: High-scoring or low-scoring, it promises to be a keen contest. While there is a rain threat, the venue’s efficient drainage system and covers mean the match can get underway almost immediately once the showers pass.

Team News

India: Abhishek Sharma appears to have recovered, and he is likely to feature in the playing XI. Whether India will bolster the bowling attack with Kuldeep Yadav will be decided closer to match time.

Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh.

Pakistan: The team appears to rely heavily on spin, with mystery spinner Usman Tariq being hailed as their trump card. They could repeat the strategy from their last match against USA, playing five spinners alongside just one frontline pacer, Shaheen Afridi, with Faheem Ashraf as the second pacer.

Probable XI: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha (c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Tariq and, Abrar Ahmed