Inside India vs Pakistan Drama: Who Blinks First? | FIFA World Cup T20 2026 Explainer
Hardik Pandya walked in and wanted to attack immediately. Ayub bowled a carrom ball that had a strong outside edge as Pandya attempted a big shot. He was caught at long-on for a golden duck as India slipped to 126 for 4 in 14.3 overs.Ayub almost completed the hat-trick. On a hat-trick ball, he bowled with loop and dip, pitched on the leg and turned over the defense of Shivam Dube. The ball bounced over the stumps. Pakistan checked to catch him but there was no lead.Saim Ayub completed his three-wicket spell conceding just 25 runs in four overs.Earlier in the innings, India lost Abhishek Sharma for his second duck in two World Cup innings. However, Kishan ensured that the innings did not slow down and scored the third fastest fifty in the India-Pakistan T20I.Fastest 50s in Ind-Pak T20Is (by balls)23 – Mohd Hafeez, Ahmedabad, 201224 – Abhishek Sharma, Dubai, 202527 – Ishan Kishan, Colombo (RPS), 2026*29 – Yuvraj Singh, Ahmedabad, 2012Kishan reached his half-century in 27 balls, getting to the boundary off Abrar Ahmed’s second delivery in the seventh over.Kishan continued to score and made 77 off 40 balls before being dismissed. The pitch didn’t seem to support high totals. Pakistan played five spins in the power play, only the 13th time a fifth spin was used in a power play at the World Cup.Prior to the start of the match, India captain Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands with Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agh during the toss, continuing the approach he had followed since last year’s Asia Cup in Dubai.