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3 min readColomboUpdated: Feb 14, 2026 06:51 PM IST
Abhishek’s firepower at the top will be much needed for India vs Pakistan in Colombo. (BCCI)
India captain Suryakumar Yadav all but confirmed that opener Abhishek Sharma, who missed the previous fixture against Namibia in New Delhi on Thursday, will take the field against Pakistan at Colombo on Sunday. And soon after the captain gave the confirmation, the opener padded up and had a long net session the practice strips. As far as shaking hands with Pakistan players, Suryakumar refused to break the suspense saying: “You will see in 24 hours.”
Although India have won both their matches, their batting has been scratchy with Abhishek’s absence clearly showing in Namibia. While he was out without opening the scoring against the USA, going into the match against Pakistan, Abhishek’s firepower at the top will be much needed for India. Earlier, Pakistan captain Salman Agha had also wished the Indian opener played on Sunday.
“If they (Pakistan want) we will play him,” Suryakumar said keeping it short. With regards to the handshakes too he kept it simple: “Wait for 24 hours. Eat well, sleep well, we will see tomorrow,” he said. Earlier, Agha had also spoke on the same lines when asked if his team would respond if India chose to shake hands. “We will see it tomorrow.”
Speaking on the highly-anticipated fixture Suryakumar said there will be pressure, which the team can’t run away from. “Whatever game you play there is pressure. When you play Pakistan it is about the occasion. Whatever you say, we don’t play them often, so when we do it becomes an occasion. We will try to keep it simple and put our best foot forward,” Suryakumar said.
As expected there were multiple questions with regards to how the Indian batsmen will face Usman Tariq, the spinner with a unique action. “During exams, there will be some questions that will be out of syllabus. But that doesn’t mean we skip that. Usman is unique and we will not surrender to him. We have been preparing for him,” Suryakumar said.
Although India beat Pakistan in all three matches of the Asia Cup in September, since then their opponents for Sunday have grown from strength to strength. Given the spin-friendly conditions they start on an equal-footing to India. “They have been playing some good cricket. I watched their last two matches, but not much before that. I’ve been hearing that they have been playing well. At the same time we have been playing well also, we will stick to our preparations,” Suryakumar said.
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