T20 World Cup 2026: India-Pak clash back on track, after all the controversy

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Now that the dust has settled over the February 15 India-Pakistan clash in Colombo, which is back on the road, cricket will hopefully continue to remain in the spotlight and not be overshadowed by controversies and developments off the park.

Edition 10 of the T20 World Cup is just four days young, but it has already thrown up its fair share of excitement. The so-called ‘smaller’ nations have put up spirited displays; Netherlands almost upset Pakistan’s applecart in the opener in Colombo on Saturday, India were given a mighty scare by United States that same night and the following evening, Nepal came within one hit of stunning England, also in Mumbai.

However, even as the contests remained uniformly interesting, they were played in the shadow of the off-field goings-on. From the time the Pakistan government announced on X that its team would not play India as scheduled in a Group A league fixture, an air of tense uncertainty prevailed. Back-channel conversations suggested that a compromise was on the cards, but it wasn’t until the International Cricket Council issued an official statement past midnight on Monday that confirmation came of Pakistan’s assent to take the field against their arch-rivals this coming Sunday.

Pakistan’s unusual stance was triggered by Bangladesh being replaced in the draw by Scotland following their refusal to budge from their position of not travelling to India for the league matches owing to security concerns.  

India captain Suryakumar Yadav had made it clear at the pre-tournament captains’ conference that his side would be travelling to Colombo even when Pakistan’s boycott threat was in vogue. He does not need to exhort his charges to clear the next immediate hurdle in the form of Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Thursday before leaving for Sri Lankan for the perennially high-stakes, high-pressure battle.

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