The Indian Cricket team did not include Sanju Samson in their lineup for the crucial match against Pakistan during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the R Premadasa Stadium. India, the defending champions, is looking for their third straight win to advance to the Super Eight stage.
Samson made his tournament debut against Namibia due to Abhishek Sharma being sidelined by stomach issues. In that match, he scored 22 runs off just eight balls, hitting three sixes and one four. Despite his quick performance, he didn’t get a bigger score. With Abhishek now fit, he reclaimed his spot in the squad for the Pakistan game, leaving Samson out.
During the toss, India captain Suryakumar Yadav announced the changes: Abhishek Sharma returned in place of Samson, and Kuldeep Yadav replaced Arshdeep Singh. Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Suryakumar Yadav’s comments at the toss:
“Not at all, we were looking to bat first. We won the last two games defending, so we don’t want to change it. This is a high-stakes game; any team can win on a given day. Two changes: Abhishek Sharma comes in, and Kuldeep Yadav is in for Arshdeep Singh.”
Captain’s Hint Before the Match
Suryakumar hinted that Abhishek would return if he recovered fully the day before the game. He responded playfully during the pre-match press conference about Abhishek’s fitness.
“If Pakistan wants us to play Abhishek, then done. Tomorrow he will play,” Suryakumar mentioned on the eve of the match.
The management was keen to bring back Abhishek as soon as he was fit, leading to Samson’s exclusion, as they opted for their main opener for this important match.
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
Pakistan (Playing XI): Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha (c), Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq
