Speaking to the media at the R. Premadasa Stadium here on Saturday evening, Suryakumar admitted that at the back of their minds, he and his players would still be conscious about Sunday’s ICC T20 World Cup game against Pakistan. “We knew we had this game on the 15 th and we have prepared for it. But we want to play good cricket. When you play an India-Pakistan game, it’s more about the occasion. It’s a big platform, obviously,” he said.
He also hinted that Abhishek Sharma could play. “Well if the Pakistan captain (Salman Agha) wants to see Abhishek bat, then okay we will play him,” Suryakumar said. And when pressed on sharing handshakes with the opponents, he immediately replied: “Just wait a bit, you will know tomorrow, just have your food, sleep well tonight.”
IND vs PAK PREVIEW | The most hyped game of T20 World Cup awaits its moment under lights
When a correspondent asked whether he prefers more matches against Pakistan, Suryakumar turned diplomatic: “Well, this (decision) is beyond me.” He conceded that the rival has done well recently but didn’t see any specific advantage Salman’s men could extract by virtue of having been in Sri Lanka for a while. “Sri Lanka is close to India. The pitches may be a little different but we have played enough here and know the conditions,” he said.
Spinners pausing in their delivery stride for a fraction and then bowling was evident during the Indian team nets under lights. The Usman Tariq factor was at play and the skipper said, “If you get an out of syllabus question, you don’t leave it, you try and answer it. We will plan accordingly.”
Keeping selection cards close to his chest, the captain emphasised that his unit has good seamers, spinners and batters, and a call on the playing eleven would be made after assessing the conditions. And as for the rain-forecast, Suryakumar said: “We cannot control the weather, we will look at playing good cricket.”
Published on Feb 14, 2026
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