Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be up against each other in Colombo in the T20 World Cup 2026 fixture on Sunday. After a lot of controversies and confusions, the marquee clash is finally taking place. The focus now shifts to on field action. Both the sides will be coming into this game on the back of comfortable wins in their previous encounters.
Here we take a look at some important match-ups.
Sahibzada Farhan vs Jasprit Bumrah
Sahibzada Farhan has been in good touch in this T20 World Cup 2026 scoring 47 and 73 in his last two outings. Farhan has been pretty dominant against India. In three matches, he has scored 155 runs at an average of over 51. He gathered limelight after hitting three sixes against Jasprit Bumrah. He struck a couple of maximums during the group stage match played on September 14 in Dubai and one six in the final on September 28 at the same venue.
After breaking the record of hitting the most sixes in T20Is against Bumrah, Farhan received a grand welcome in Pakistan and infact, a documentary was also made on it. This would be an interesting match up in this all important fixture.
Shaheen Afridi vs Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav returned back in form against New Zealand after he struck three fifties in five-match series. The Indian captain continued form in the opening match of the T20 World Cup 2026 scoring a brilliant half-century against USA and helping India come out of a tricky situation. The right-handed batter couldn’t replicate that against Namibia and only managed 12 off 13.
He will be up against Pakistan in the next game. Surya hasn’t had greatest of run against Pakistan. In 8 matches that he has played, the skipper has only managed 112 runs at an average of 16. In the last match that he played against Pakistan, Surya was dismissed for 1 off 5 by Shaheen Afridi. This would be another match up to watch out for.
Usman Tariq vs Hardik Pandya
Usman Tariq has been in good form and has been picking wickets consistently. On the other side, Hardik Pandya who was the Player of the Match in the last game against Namibia in New Delhi is one batter who is known to dominate the spinners with his aggressive batting. Hardik’s strike-rate against the spinners is over 120 while he averages 40+. The Usman Tariq vs Hardik Pandya is surely one match up to watch out for. Hardik’s aggressive style pf batting can come in handy against the spinner.
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