Abhishek Sharma is back. The hard-hitting opening batter returns for the Indian side in their group-stage clash against Pakistan in Colombo on Sunday, February 15.
IND vs PAK, T20 World Cup 2026: Live Updates | Scorecard
Pakistan’s captain called it right at the toss and immediately chose to bowl first against India at the R Premadasa Stadium. The men in green have opted to go with an unchanged XI from their previous outing.
India, however, have made two strategic changes to their lineup. Abhishek Sharma returns at the top of the order, replacing Sanju Samson, while spinner Kuldeep Yadav comes in for Arshdeep Singh. The inclusion of Kuldeep gives India a spin-heavy bowling attack, clearly looking to exploit Colombo’s turning conditions.
IND vs PAK: PLAYING XIs
India’s Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy
Pakistan’s Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha (C), Babar Azam, Usman Khan (WK), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmad, Usman Tariq
(more to follow)
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