World No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma is all set to play for India in their third Group A match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026
on Sunday (February 15) in Colombo against Pakistan. The 25-year-old left-handed batter from Amritsar, who missed India’s second Group A match against Namibia in Delhi on Thursday, attended India’s practice session in Colombo on Saturday (February 14) and hammered big sixes.He batted against spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy first up, smashing both the spinners to the far corners of R. Premadasa Stadium in a symbolic warning to the array of Pakistan spinners led by unorthodox Usman Tariq.
Once finished batting against spinners, the 25-year-old shifted to the left-side nets to tackle pacers and did
an equally fluent job, carting his teammates and local bowlers with sheer abandon.
There was not much foot movement apart from while trying to give a charge against bowlers, but his fast hands and length-judging ability covered for it.
🚨 THE AURA OF USMAN TARIQ 🚨
– Abhishek Sharma is facing the bowling of Suryakumar Yadav in the nets, who is imitating Usman Tariq’s action. 🤯
– Some extra homework going by team India before the exam. 😂 pic.twitter.com/YePTOv4dSQ
— Cric Passion (@CricPassionTV) February 14, 2026
A few minutes ahead of India’s batting session, skipper Suryakumar Yadav too gave a veiled confirmation of Abhishek’s readiness to take the field against the cross-border rivals.
“Okay, if you want him to play, then we will play him tomorrow. All the worries are over?” he said during the pre-match press conference.
Abhishek’s recovery means that Sanju Samson will have to make the exit from the eleven for the Punjab man to reunite with in-form Ishan Kishan in the openers’ slot in Sunday’s game.
Pakistan skipper Salman Agha was also aware of Abhishek’s imminent return, but he preferred to make plans for India as a team rather than focussing on certain individuals.
He though expressed his desire for Abhishek to play. According to him, the Pakistan team wants to play against the best.
“I really hope – we all know he’s a good player and I really hope he plays tomorrow (Sunday) because we want to play against the best team they have and I really hope he is recovering well and can play tomorrow”, Agha said.
