After days of boycott threats, political signals and frantic negotiations, cricket’s highest-grossing game has weathered another storm. The ICC’s biggest commercial draw is back on the calendar and the T20 World Cup once again finds itself around a single evening. Move over, tournament stories, it’s India vs Pakistan time. The folklore of India-Pakistan clashes is rich and enduring. It’s a rivalry layered with history, tension, glamor and heartbreak.
But the tumultuous political relations between the two neighbors often cast a shadow over bilateral cricket and even multi-country tournaments like the Asia Cup. In recent years, the ICC’s decision to place the two sides in the same group at global events, guaranteeing at least one competition and the possibility of another in the knockout stages, has only heightened the game’s commercial importance. It also inevitably meant that one match was often bigger than the tournament itself.
The India vs Pakistan group clash will start at 7 PM IST. JioHotstar will offer live streaming while Star Sports will provide telecast of the match in India.
That’s why less than a week ago, the prospect of this game not happening sent shockwaves across the cricketing world. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reiterated that his country would stand by Bangladesh and not play India, creating uncertainty over the tournament schedule.
For a brief period, world cricket’s most lucrative competition looked like a non-starter. A flurry of diplomacy followed. Weeks of back-channel negotiations, interventions by ICC presidents and government-level talks culminated in a decisive tripartite meeting in Lahore involving the International Cricket Council, the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
Public emphasis was placed on protecting the “spirit of cricket”. Privately, the financial stakes could not be ignored.
India-Pakistan remains the biggest driver of cricket revenue. It guarantees massive TV viewership and advertising returns across formats. Industry estimates valued the match at around $250 millionreason enough for everyone involved to seek his return. With the impasse resolved, the ICC, Sri Lanka and the broadcasters can breathe easier. Their most reliable money spinner is back on track.
On the field, both sides did their job effectively. India and Pakistan overcame their first opponents to sit 2-0 in Group A. Yet this contest was rarely about points or pure pace. It exists in its own emotional ecosystem.
Sunday is about history and pride. It’s about the noise in the stands and the tension in the dressing rooms. Key to the off-field turbulence, Mohsin Naqvi has arrived in Colombo to assemble the Pakistan team, a symbolic reminder that the stakes are never limited to cricket in India vs Pakistan.
CAN WE TALK ABOUT CRICKET NOW?
India vs Pakistan. Suffice it to say, it will make cricket fans sit up. For a few hours on Sunday, perhaps the conversation could return to cricket itself. That’s reason enough to turn on the TV and hope for a thriller. Off-field pressures will follow Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Ali Agha’s men to the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.
A neutral site moderates the intensity a little. Indian supporters have braved skyrocketing flight and hotel prices for an evening that carries much more weight than two points. The preparation varied. India only arrived on Friday night and had only one training session to adjust. The brief apprehensions surrounding Abhishek Sharma have eased after his recovery from illness.
Pakistan, operating on the hybrid model introduced last year, has been based in Colombo for several weeks. This extended stay allowed them to better understand the conditions at RPICS, where the surface was slow and demanding. India have both a cricketing and a psychological advantage.
Their three Asia Cup victories over Pakistan came in three distinct ways – through bowling control, batting authority and tactical superiority in a final that reopened familiar wounds. In T20Is, India’s top order can overwhelm the attacks, the middle order provides strength and balance, the spin unit offers rare variety and the pace battery is led by Jasprit Bumrah.
It may look daunting for Pakistan, but writing it off would be careless. For all the gulf that seems to have widened, they know how close they came to building a T20 World Cup series against India. After their dominant win in 2021 let the check slip in Melbourne in 2022 and again in New York in 2024.
These losses revealed the fine line between faith and hesitation. When moments arise, as they did in these matches and in last year’s Asia Cup final, Pakistan must take them decisively.
In line with the hybrid model introduced last year, Pakistan were stationed in Colombo, allowing them to better understand the pitch and conditions there. The field at RPICS was breathtaking and the 2009 champions have five capable spinners in their ranks, Usman Tariq, Saim Ayub, Abrar Ahmed, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz. Tariq’s stop-and-break action has already become the talk of the town and a battle with India’s all-rounders would be an interesting sub-plot of the showdown.
Analysts, commentators and social media have all had their say. In fact, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha threw his weight firmly behind the unorthodox Usman Tariq when he described the “break and sling” off-spin as Pakistan’s “trump card” against India at the tacky Premadasa pitch in their T20 World Cup clash on Sunday.
“When you get a question outside the syllabus, you try to solve it,” the Indian captain said when he was he asked about Tariq’s variations.
Pakistan’s batting led by Sahibzada Farhan with the support of Ayub and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf can change the pace quickly. However, they have yet to face a bowling attack of India’s quality as they open against the Netherlands and USA. India, on the other hand, have proven match-winners across departments.
From Bumrah’s precision to Varun Chakravarthy’s mystery and Shivam Dube’s increasing value with the ball, the defending champions have flexibility in their combinations.
Whatever the scoreboard holds, Sunday’s clash promises drama, spectacle and raw intensity that only India vs Pakistan can deliver.
IND vs PAK: COLOMBO PITCH REPORT
The match will be played at the same ground that hosted Australia vs Zimbabwe. There was a thin layer of grass on it on Saturday, which suggests that this place may play a bit straighter than usual. Pakistan, who have been based in Colombo for weeks now, are expected to rely heavily on spin to challenge India’s stroke makers.
IND vs PAK: COLOMBO WEATHER
Now that the political drama has died down, attention is turning to another uncertainty: the weather. A late northeast monsoon is forecast to move over Colombo during Sunday’s match. The Sri Lankan Meteorological Department has warned of a low pressure system over the Bay of Bengal, bringing up to a 70 percent chance of rain.
As captains often admit on the eve of big games, there is only so much they can control. Weather is not one of those things. Neither does the playground to some extent. At this venue, the surfaces generally played on the slower side and offered noticeable turn, far from the belter many expected for an occasion of this magnitude.
The previous day’s rain forced blankets in the afternoon, underscoring how quickly plans can be disrupted. Between the sky above and the surface below, adaptability can be as critical as skill. Whether Pakistan can halt their recent slump or India extend their dominance to 8-1 may ultimately depend on one simple factor: whether the weather allows for a full-fledged contest.
IND vs PAK: TEAM NEWS
Abhishek Sharma has recovered in time for the match and is expected to replace Sanju Samson. India are also looking at adding another spin option, which could see either Washington Sundar or Kuldeep Yadav come in for Arshdeep Singh.
India (Predicted XI): Ishan Kishan (week), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan look set to keep Babar Azam in the middle order and there is little pressure to change the combination after a strong performance against the USA. Fakhar Zaman could be called up, possibly in place of Usman Khan, allowing Sahibzad Farhan to take over the wicket duties. However, fundamental changes seem unlikely.
Pakistan (Predicted XI): Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (capt), Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan/Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Tariq, Abrar Ahmed.
IND vs PAK: THE CAPTAIN’S CORNER
“When you play an India-Pakistan game, it’s more about the opportunity. It’s a platform. You can say what you want that it’s just another game. But you know which game you’re going to play. And we don’t play them often,” says Suryakumar Yadav, India’s captain, without hiding behind the cliché that it’s just another game.
“This match between India and Pakistan has always been a big match and it will remain so in the future. We were prepared for everything, whether we have to play tomorrow’s match or not. We can’t do anything about the rain. If the skips come down, we know what we have to do,” Salman Agha, the Pakistan captain, said of the uncertainty surrounding the contest.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
February 15, 2026