05 February,2026 05:40 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Suryakumar Yadav (Pic: File Pic)
Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026, Team India skipper Suryakumar Yadav said that his team will travel to Colombo for the high-voltage clash against arch-rivals, Pakistan, even though the opponent team has boycotted the match.
The "Men in Blue" are set to lock horns with the arch-rival on February 15, but Pakistan's cricket team has been told by its government to skip the match after the International Cricket Council (ICC) removed Bangladesh after its refusal to play in India.
The ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland.
"I feel their decision is not in my control. I wish I could take their decisions call but it is their call. We had played in the Asia Cup as well and we played them three times," he said.
The Indian skipper then stated that Team India's flight is booked for the clash against Pakistan.
"Our mindset is pretty clear. We have not said no (to playing against Pakistan). They have. ICC has given the fixture. Our flight is booked and we are going there (to Colombo). The team discussion is that we are playing first on February 7, then we will go there," said Suryakumar.
"We played some good cricket against them. We have been told that the game is on 15th, the game is at a neutral venue and if we get an opportunity we will play. It's a difficult call for them (Pakistani players) as well," he added.
The T20 World Cup 2026 is scheduled to kick off from February 7. India and Pakistan are placed in Group A of the tournament along with teams such as Namibia, the Netherlands, and the United States of America (USA).
The "Green Shirts" will play their first match against the Netherlands on February 7 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, the Suryakumar Yadav-led men will face the USA in their first match on the same date at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
India: Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Harshit Rana.
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Babar Azam, Sahibzada Farhan (WK), Salman Ali Agha (C), Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan (WK), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Khawaja Nafay (WK), Usman Tariq.
(With PTI Inputs)
