India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav, left, and Pakistan’s captain Salman Ali Agha walk past each other after the coin toss of the T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on February 15, 2026
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistan’s players during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between India and Pakistan, at R Premadasa Stadium, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on February 15, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Indian juggernaut rolled on even as the rains that were forecast stayed away at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on an electric Sunday (February 15, 2026). The defending champion rode on Ishan Kishan’s muscular 77 and its potent attack to defeat Pakistan by 61 runs in the ICC T20 World Cup Group A match. The win also helped India qualify for the Super Eight stage.

After posting 175 for seven, Suryakumar Yadav’s men bowled out Pakistan for 114 in 18 overs. The pursuit was in a shambles when Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub and captain Salman Agha were back in the hut with a mere 13 on the board. Hardik, with a wicket and a catch, and Bumrah, two wickets in his kitty, were the initial speed-breakers for the rivals.

Pakistan’s woes extended as Babar Azam found Axar Patel sliding one into his stumps. Meanwhile, Usman Khan waged a lone battle, striking cleanly down the ground. But once he succumbed to Axar, with Kishan whipping the bails off, Pakistan was down for the count.

Earlier, Agha won the toss, elected to field, and found the mark through his spinning arm. Abhishek Sharma, back in the Indian playing XI, miscued a pull and India was one for one after the first over.

But there were no premature nerves as Kishan (77, 40b, 10×4, 3×6) smote pacer Shaheen Afridi’s first ball for six. The opener played his shots with conviction, and even when a few edges raced past the ropes, he refused to turn conservative. The southpaw remained busy, pulling, gliding, hoisting and driving past fifty as no part of the ground was beyond his reach.

A spin-heavy Pakistan attack struggled to stifle Kishan while his partner Tilak Varma stayed on 10 for a while. Having reverse-hit Saim, Kishan tried to force one on the off-side and got castled but by then he had set a strong base for India. A bustling Suryakumar hit a four off Usman Tariq, Tilak exhaled with a six off Mohammad Nawaz and India cruised.

A brief stutter occurred when Tilak and Hardik fell off successive deliveries against Saim. Shivam Dube averted the hat-trick and along with his skipper, eased into a partnership based on singles and elevated by the odd four and six.

Even after Suryakumar fell to Tariq, Dube remained busy and despite India losing two more batters in the death, there was enough and more to stay ahead of Pakistan for the rest of the night.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA

Ishan Kishan b Saim 77 (40b, 10×4, 3×6), Abhishek Sharma c Afridi b Agha 0 (4b), Tilak Varma lbw b Saim 25 (24b, 2×4, 1×6), Suryakumar Yadav c Saim b Tariq 32 (29b, 3×4), Hardik Pandya c Babar b Saim 0 (1b), Shivam Dube run out 27 (17b, 3×4, 1×6), Rinku Singh (not out) 11 (4b, 1×4, 1×6), Axar Patel c Saim b Afridi 0 (1b); Extras (lb-2, w-1): 3; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 175.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-1 (Abhishek, 0.6 overs), 2-88 (Kishan, 8.4), 3-126 (Tilak, 14.2), 4-126 (Hardik, 14.3), 5-159 (Suryakumar, 18.5), 6-175 (Dube, 19.5), 7-175 (Axar, 19.6).

PAKISTAN BOWLING

Agha 2-0-10-1, Afridi 2-0-31-1, Saim 4-0-25-3, Abrar 3-0-38-0, Shadab 1-0-17-0, Nawaz 4-0-28-0, Tariq 4-0-24-1.

PAKISTAN

Sahibzada Farhan c Rinku b Hardik 0 (4b), Saim Ayub lbw b Bumrah 6 (2b, 1×6), Salman Agha c Hardik b Bumrah 4 (4b, 1×4), Babar Azam b Axar 5 (7b), Usman Khan st. Kishan b Axar 44 (34b, 6×4, 1×6), Shadab Khan c Dube b Tilak 14 (15b, 1×4), Mohammad Nawaz c Dube b Kuldeep 4 (5b, 1×4), Faheem Ashraf c Rinku b Varun 10 (14b, 1×4), Shaheen Afridi (not out) 23 (19b, 2×4, 1×6), Abrar Ahmed lbw b Varun 0 (1b), Usman Tariq b Hardik 0 (3b); Extras (lb-1, w-3): 4; Total (in 18 overs): 114.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-0 (Farhan, 0.4), 2-6 (Saim, 1.2), 3-13 (Agha, 1.6), 4-34 (Babar, 4.5), 5-73 (Usman, 10.4), 6-78 (Nawaz, 11.4), 7-78 (Shadab, 12.1), 8-97 (Ashraf, 15.3), 9-97 (Abrar, 15.4).

INDIA BOWLING

Hardik 3-1-16-2, Bumrah 2-0-17-2, Axar 4-0-29-2, Varun 3-0-17-2, Kuldeep 3-0-14-1, Tilak 2-0-11-1, Rinku 1-0-9-0.

Toss: Pakistan; PoM: Kishan.

Published – February 15, 2026 10:52 pm IST

Groundsmen cover the wicket after rain stops play during the Asia Cup Super Four match between India and Pakistan at R. Premadasa Stadium on September 10, 2023 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

One hundred and twelve minutes of intense action, followed by almost four hours’ agonising wait, ended up with rain emerging as the winner in the high-octane Asia Cup clash between India and Pakistan for the second weekend in succession.

However, unlike in Pallekele last Saturday, the teams will resume the Super 4s clash on Monday, with India placed at 147 for two in 24.1 overs. Virat Kohli and K.L. Rahul — who was drafted in only because Shreyas Iyer hurt his back minutes before the toss — will resume India’s innings at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Monday afternoon.

With a reserve day having been added at the eleventh hour only for the marquee clash, it will be interesting to see if a maximum of about 76 overs’ play is possible on Monday. Had the game resumed on Sunday night after a heavy downpour — that lasted over an hour and a half and took as much time for the groundstaff to make the ground playable — it would have been a shortened game.

But just when the umpires were walking out for a final inspection, the skies opened up again at 8.30 p.m. and the game was suspended at 8.45 p.m.

Earlier in the afternoon, however, under a scorching sun, India captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill reigned supreme against Pakistan’s pace battery in an entertaining duel.

Rohit flicked Shaheen Shah Afridi off the last ball of the opening over for a six over square-leg. Gill took the cue in Afridi’s next over, showing his class with punches. He repeated the three boundaries in the fifth over as well, including an aerial drive over mid-on after charging down the wicket.

While Afridi was hammered for 31 runs in his three overs, Naseem Shah bowled an exceptional spell from the other end. Neither Rohit, who went into a defensive mode, nor Gill could find an answer to counter Naseem. Had Iftikhar Ahmed and Agha Salman not been ball-watching at the first and second slip, respectively, in the eighth over, Gill’s edge could have been caught and Naseem deservingly rewarded.

Gill continued to score freely from the other end. As if he was waiting for spin, Rohit exploded once Shadab Khan’s leg-spin was introduced. The 9 balls he faced off Shadab in his first two overs fetched Rohit a whopping 28 runs, with Rohit clearing the field easily.

It resulted in both Rohit and Gill having notched up their fifties, with India in control. However, moments after the drinks break, Rohit miscued an inside-out drive and Faheem Ashraf took an excellent catch running in to his left from long-off.

In the next over, Gill was deceived by Afridi’s leg-cutter and Salman did not falter at covers. It meant Kohli and Rahul had to be cautious for a while. Just when Rahul appeared to get his touch back did the skies open up. And even before the groundstaff could cover the outfield, three wet patches in the outfield had developed due to the heavy downpour that prevented any further play.

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.