India vs Pakistan, 27th Match, Group A, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 - Commentary

Live visuals show Hardik talking to Ishan with a smile on his face. So all's well between them. The game the world wanted to see is now over. India v Pakistan is done and dusted. Everyone can go back to their daytime jobs now and sleep peacefully in the night. A familiar Indian win against a Pakistani side who didn't turn up on the big night. The Indian juggernaut over their arch-rivals continues in ICC events. Till another India v Pakistan game, when the latter can again turn up with renewed hope, tonight is the time for the Men in Blue to celebrate. On that note we wind up our coverage of this one. We will too go and snooze off as there's a triple-header again tomorrow morning. Catch you nice and early on those games. Bye bye and take care.

Even with conditions favouring Pakistan, they have failed to test India. The ball was gripping a lot more in the first innings, and Salman himself admitted the pitch played better when it was their turn to bat. Still, it's a huge win margin of 61 runs for the Men in Blue. Ishan Kishan's knock made all the difference today. Completely defied the conditions with 77 off 40, while the Pakistan bowlers fluffed their execution. A golden opportunity to improve their record against India blown to dust.

India qualify for the Super 8s; Pakistan now need a win or a no-result vs Namibia to progress

Hardik Pandya vs Pakistan (T20I)
10 mat
17 wkts
Avg 13.82
SR 10.7
ER 7.70

Biggest defeats for Pakistan in T20 World Cups
84 runs vs WI Mirpur 2014
61 runs vs Ind Colombo RPS 2026 *
48 runs vs Eng The Oval 2009

Lowest totals for Pakistan in T20 World Cups
82 vs WI Mirpur 2014
113/7 vs Ind New York 2024
114 vs Ind Colombo RPS 2026 *
123/7 vs SL Colombo RPS 2012

Most wins vs an opposition in T20 World Cups
8* Ind vs Pak (one Super Over win)
6 Aus vs Ban
6 Pak vs Ban
6 SL vs WI
6 WI vs Eng

Suryakumar Yadav | India captain: "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. (how do you keep this winning run going?) We'll think about that tomorrow. First, we'll go back, have some good time together as a team and then when we take the flight tomorrow, reach Ahmedabad, we'll start thinking about the next games."

Salman Ali Agha | Pakistan captain: "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."

Ishan Kishan | PoTM: "100%. 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. 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."

22:18 Local Time, 16:48 GMT, 22:18 IST: After all the hullabaloo and the unreal drama before this game, the action has been one-sided. Pakistan no match to this Indian side. Many expected a close contest since this was at RPS and in conditions which suited spin. Pakistan had 5 of them and they were confident going into this. But all that was torn apart by Pakistan's inept performance with bat. They brainlessly tried to take on Bumrah in the powerplay and lost two wickets in one over of his. Immediately they were on the back foot and more shoddy batting followed. On long square boundaries and against fine Indian spinners, they attempted to slog their way and paid the price. Only Usman Khan played well and once he went, the game was all but over from a Pakistani viewpoint. Yet another ICC event, so much off-field hungama, so much anticipation for this game. And the eventual result - is an easy Indian win. We have seen this movie many times before. Stay tuned for the post-match stuff....

Hardik Pandya to Usman Tariq, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!