India Vs Pakistan, ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Who Said What After Men In Blue's Comfortable 61-Run Win

India delivered a dominant display to beat Pakistan by 61 runs in their Group A meeting of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Put in to bat, India finished on 175/7 from their 20 overs, built around a sparkling 77 from Ishan Kishan. The left-hander counterattacked superbly after an early setback, helping his side settle and maintain scoreboard pressure on a surface that wasn’t always easy for strokeplay.

Pakistan never really found momentum in reply. Early wickets pushed them onto the back foot at 13/3 in the powerplay, and although Usman Khan fought hard for his 44, support around him kept disappearing. India’s bowlers stayed disciplined, mixed their pace cleverly and forced Pakistan into risky options as the required rate climbed.

The end came in the 18th over with Pakistan dismissed for 114, well short of the target. It sealed a convincing win for India and confirmed their progress to the Super Eight, capping a night where they were sharper in every phase of the game.

Ishan Kishan On Winning The POTM

"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. (today you favored the off-side, was that a plan?) 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.

(Relief for the team for the rest of the tournament after winning against Pakistan?) 100% I think. 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. (on the start Hardik-Bumrah gave) I think they 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."

PAK Skipper Salman Agha on the Loss

"We were believing in our spinners and they had an off day today. Execution was missing in some parts of the game. We were obviously going to always believe our spinners, because they've done really well in last six month. And with the batting I think we didn't start well and in T20 games if we lose 3 or 4 wickets in powerplay, you are always chasing the game. (why did you decide to bat second?) I think, to be very honest, like in first inning it was a bit tacky. The ball was gripping as well. So, the execution was, I think, missing when it comes to bowling, but I think the pitch better played better in the second inning than first inning. But our bowlers like, we didn't bowl according to the situation. And when it comes to batting, we didn't apply ourselves and gave us a chance to go deep in the game. (on dealing with the emotions on a big game like this) In these kind of games, the emotions are always going to be high. We just need to deal with that because we have played enough cricket and we have played enough these games, games like that. So, it's just we need to gather ourselves very quickly and we have a game in two days' time and we need to look forward for that as well. (on the rest of the tournament) Yeah, obviously, you have to see the bigger picture. We have a game in two days' time. We need to win that game and qualify for the Super Four and then it's a new tournament start again."

India Skipper Suryakumar Yadav on the Win

"I think this is for India (smiles in his trademark style). But yeah, it's... we played the same brand of cricket, what we wanted to play. I told you at the toss as well. I think batting first was a better option on this wicket. And the way Ishan batted and he was batting in the last few games and also in the domestic circuit, he batted the same way and took the team ahead. (because it's a slow pitch, was the plan to attack early?) Not really. We wanted to play the same way how we were playing. I think Ishan thought something out of the box. After 0 for 1, there had to be someone taking responsibility in the powerplay and the way he took that responsibility, I think it was amazing. I think we were very ahead in the powerplay. There was a little bit of lump in between 7 to 15, but then that's the beauty of T20 cricket and the way Tilak, Shivam and Rinku batted, I think it was commendable. (how many did you think 175 was above par?) See, it's difficult to tell when you're batting first because you know, you never know, they might be a little bit of dew or wicket might play a little better under lights. But as soon as we reached 175, we thought it was 15-20 runs above par. I think 155 would have been a very tight game, but then 175 was a very good score. (on the ploy at the start with the ball) No, I think we followed the same thing what we did before when we played them. Hardik took the new ball, taking charge from ball one, then Bumrah coming in, what he does the best. He showed the world why he's the best bowler in the world. And then Varun, Kuldeep, Axar, matter of the fact Tilak as well, coming in, chipping in. I think it was great to see everyone contributing."