IND vs PAK T20 World Cup 2026 Group A Predicted 11: Abhishek Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav IN, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh OUT, Fakhar Zaman set to…

India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup 2026 Group A match: There is some good news for the Indian cricket team in the build-up to their Group A match of T20 World Cup 2026 against Pakistan with world No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma set to return to the playing 11 following a bout of illness and stomach infection which forced him to miss the last match against Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday. Sanju Samson replaced Abhishek Sharma as the opener in the match against Namibia but is expected to go back to warming the bench against Pakistan.

Abhishek was India’s star batter in the Asia Cup 2025 last year, especially the matches against Pakistan, becoming the only batter in the tournament to score over 300 runs. Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha was hopeful that Abhishek Sharma will be available to play for India on Sunday.

“We all know he’s (Abhishek Sharma) a good player and I really hope he plays tomorrow because we want to play against the best team they have and I really hope he is recovering well and can play tomorrow,” Salman Ali Agha said in the pre-match press conference in Colombo on Saturday.

In reply, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav also said in jest that then Abhishek Sharma will ‘definitely’ play on Sunday. “If he (Salman Ali Agha) wants him to play, then we’ll play him tomorrow. Done,” Suryakumar Yadav said in Colombo.

With the pitch at the R. Premadasa on the slower side and being a used surface – as it is the same one on which Zimbabwe stunned Australia, Team India are set to bring in chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav into the side in place of Arshdeep Singh.

“It is possible that the spinner dominates here, but I think the fast bowler will have roles here as well. Because fast bowling is such a skill that you cannot write off anywhere. His role is always there. So I think he will have a role here as well. We have a lot of spinners, but we also have fast bowlers, who we can use them if required,” Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha felt.

Pakistan, on other hand, may look to bolster their batting by bring in experienced Fakhar Zaman in place of wicketkeeper Usman Khan. If that happens then opener Sahibzada Farhan will be asked to take up the role behind the stumps.

 

Guess who’s back… back again! #TeamIndia‘s Mr.Maximum, #AbhishekSharma, was spotted launching sixes during the training session in Colombo!

Watch him next ICC Men’s #T20WorldCup #INDvPAK | SUN, 15th FEB, 6 PM pic.twitter.com/CEkut5QxpP

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 14, 2026

India vs Pakistan ICC T20 World Cup 2026 Group A match no 27 Predicted 11

India: Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (c), Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk)/Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Tariq, Abrar Ahmed