Why is Mohammad Rizwan not playing vs India in T20 World Cup 2026?
Due to a series of poor performances, Pakistan dropped Mohammad Rizwan from their T20 World Cup 2026 squad. Usman Khan replaced him in the middle. Meanwhile, Pakistan have opted to bowl first after winning the toss in Colombo. Pakistan announced an unchanged playing XI.
Pakistan have left out senior batter Mohammad Rizwan from their T20 World Cup 2026 squad. The keeper-batter was dropped from the squad after a series of poor performances in the previous edition of the marquee competition but returned to the playing XI during the Australia tour in 2024. However, he once again struggled to establish his authority, leading to the team management moving away from him.
Rizwan didn’t play a single T20I in 2025 and even his performance in franchise cricket was under the scanner. In the Big Bash League, the 33-year-old made just 187 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 102.74, which is extremely concerning. His poor performance failed to impress the team management, as the cricketer was not considered for the T20 World Cup. In his absence, Usman Khan has emerged as a viable option.
Pakistan win toss, elect to bowl first
Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bowl first at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Captain Salman Agha noted that the track is tacky and will favour the bowlers early on and for the same reason, they opted to field. India captain Suryakumar Yadav, on the other hand, announced that the team would have batted first anyway before announcing two changes. Abhishek Sharma replaced Sanju Samson, while Kuldeep Yadav came in place of Arshdeep Singh.
“We were looking to bat first. We've seen the results here, and we've batted in the last two games and won both the games defending, so we don't want to change anything. On a given day, if you're going well, then anyone can have a good day. Two changes. Abhishek Sharma comes in and Kuldeep Yadav comes in for Arshdeep Singh,” Suryakumar said.
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