PAK VS IND LIVE: Earlier Abhishek for duck, now Kishan for 77, as Shaheens contain archrival

COLOMBO: The highly anticipated Pak vs Ind first clash of the T20 World Cup 2026 began with a strong attack from Pakistani bowlers, destroying the Indian opening line, as Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan were dismissed.

Ishan Kishan scored 77 off 40 while his opening partner, Abhishek Sharma, went for a duck. With the departure of the Kishan, the team’s skipper Suryakumar Yadav stepped in to support Tilak Varma at the crease, amid huge pressure contained by the Shaheens bowlers.

Both Varma (25 off 23) and Yadav (21 off 17 balls) are currently standing at the crease, guiding their team’s total up to 125 for two wickets, with only six overs more to finish the first innings.

Earlier, Pakistan elected to field first after winning the toss in the highly awaited clash against India tonight here. Pakistan’s toss record against India in T20 World Cup clashes is up to 4 out of 8 clashes of the same event.

The high-profile match is being played in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. After the toss, the Indian captain violated the spirit of cricket by refusing to shake hands with the Pakistani captain.

The Pakistan squad includes Salman Ali Agha, Sahibzada Farhan, Saeem Ayub, Babar Azam, Usman Khan, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, and Usman Tariq

The Indian squad features Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Rinku Singh