The Indian cricket team’s head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to answer questions about Pakistan’s decision to skip their important T20 World Cup match against India. The Pakistan government authorized the national team to compete in the tournament yet it prohibited them from facing India. A viral video showed Gambhir leaving for Mumbai where he encountered a paparazzi crowd. He expressed his gratitude to the reporters for their well-wishes but he refused to answer their questions about Pakistan’s position before he entered the airport.
Group A of the tournament includes India and Pakistan together with the United States of America USA and the Netherlands and Namibia.
Pakistan will begin its tournament at Colombo on February 7 when it faces the Netherlands while India will play against the USA later that same day.
The Indian team showed outstanding performance before the World Cup by winning four matches and losing one match in their T20I series against New Zealand. Pakistan entered the tournament after they completed a T20I whitewash against Australia at home during the previous week.
The team has a dismal performance record against India in ICC T20 World Cups. The two teams have played eight matches with India winning seven and Pakistan winning one match.
Pakistan suffered a clean sweep at the hands of India during the Asia Cup last year which featured three exciting matches including the final. The two Indian players Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma dominated Pakistan bowling through their powerful performances which included Tilak scoring an impressive 69 not out during the final match.
India squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh
Pakistan squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq.