After a comprehensive one-sided win over the Salman Ali Agha-led side, India’s star all-rounder Axar Patel added salt to Pakistan’s wounds by playing down the hype surrounding the intense rivalry between the two teams.
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India’s 61-run win over Pakistan’s national cricket team in Colombo once again raised the question of whether the label “arch-rivals” still has sporting meaning. While political tensions and fan emotions continue to fuel the narrative, cricket itself is becoming increasingly one-sided, especially in the shortest format.
Speaking after the match, Axar made it clear that the Indian dressing room was not playing into the rivalry narrative.
“You see, we see them as a team. So we don’t think about that kind of rivalry or anything. So we play against one team and just focus on cricket. So whenever I play, I don’t think about what the others do. I don’t know. But I take it as one game and the opponent. So I don’t think about any rivalry or anything. So we played it and we played the opposition.” Patel told reporters after the victory in Colombo.
Probably more interest stemmed from boycott drama ahead of Sunday’s India vs Pakistan match clash than from the match that took place at the R. Premadasa Stadium. Much like seven of the previous eight meetings between the two sides in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the latest encounter followed a familiar script.
Pre-match talk of Pakistan posing a serious challenge in Colombo’s spin-friendly conditions quickly dissipated as India tightened up. The men in blue, led by Suryakumar Yadav, have once again underlined the gap between the two teams in T20 cricket.
India outclassed the 2009 World T20 champions in front of a sell-out crowd in Colombo, prevailing by 61 runs to the delight of most of the Indian supporters at the venue. Ahead of the clash, Salman Ali Agha spoke about playing fearless and aggressive cricket. However, on the field, Pakistan struggled to find the right balance and paid for it.
Last year, Suryakumar also disputed the narrative of the competition following India’s victory in the Asia Cup 2025 Super Four in Dubai, saying that matches against Pakistan were “no longer a rivalry”, arguing that a true rivalry required close results.
The result in Colombo further tilted the already lopsided mutual record. India now leads Pakistan 8-1 in T20 World Cup. Across the T20Is overall, India’s dominance was equally pronounced.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
February 16, 2026