Ishan Kishan took the Pakistani bowling attack to the cleaners on a tacky wicket.
India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan continued his prolific run of form as he demolished the Pakistan bowling attack in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Group A clash at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Sunday (February 15).
On a pitch favoring spinners, the southpaw slammed 77 off just 40 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes to propel the defending champions to a highly competitive 175/7 in 20 overs.
In reply, Pakistan’s innings folded for a paltry 114 in 18 overs. Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy picked up two wickets each for India, while Kuldeep Yadav and Tilak returned with scalp apiece.
Speaking after the game, Kishan shared his thoughts on the Colombo wicket while also reflecting on his scintillating knock.
“I think the wicket was not that easy in the beginning, but sometimes you just have to believe what you want to play, what shots are on, and you have to just focus on your strength. So I was just keeping it simple and watching the ball and playing with the field, maybe trying to make them run as much as they can, but yeah, I think it worked pretty well in my side,” Kishan said after receiving the Player-of-the-Match award.
“I think I did work a lot on my off-side game and it will give me the balls where I want them to bowl if I play good shots on off-side. So I was just trying to hit the gaps because it's a big boundary and when it's a big ground you get bigger gaps. So I was just trying to keep it simple, like I said, trying to hit the gaps, trying to at least take two runs because wicket was not easy. I had that in mind that we need to put a total like 160-170 runs and it will be a very good total for us,” he added.
The swashbuckling left-hander acknowledged that winning against the arch-rivals is special for India.
“India v Pakistan is always a special game not only for us, for our country as well. So we had to win this one because it was a very important game and they had pretty good spinners in their side and we were just supposed to play the good shots and yeah, winning this against Pakistan team... it will give us a lot of confidence going ahead in the tournament and we'll try to just keep the momentum going,” he remarked.
Ishan Kishan also highlighted the difference in quality of Pakistan pacers and their Indian counterparts.
“I think they (Bumrah & Hardik) bowled tremendously well. Pace bowlers... when I was batting and when Shaheen was bowling, I didn't feel like the ball was doing much for the pace bowlers. But at the same time, looking at them (India's new ball bowlers) bowl two beautiful overs. So yeah, it was a plus point for us, especially we know how Jassie can bowl, whether he has new ball in his hand and whether he's bowling in the death overs. Especially credit goes to Hardik Pandya for keeping it on the tight areas, bowling what we planned before the game and executing his plans pretty well," he concluded.
With this win, India sealed their place in the Super 8s. The Men in Blue will face Netherlands in their last group-stage fixture in Ahmedabad on February 18.