Pakistan will face India on Sunday (February 15).
Even if the focus remains on Usman Tariq, Pakistan have been preparing extensively for different Indian players ahead of the marquee clash against India. The two teams meet for the T20 World Cup 2026 fixture on Sunday (February 15) in Colombo.
According to Cricbuzz, Pakistan trained hard with an extended session, but the mood in the camp was light, which is usually not the case for them before an India game. After an animated huddle talk, led by Mike Hesson, Pakistan players dispersed into structured drills, with net bowlers trying to imitate two premium Indian spinners.
While some net bowlers simulated Axar Patel’s action, others tried to spin from the front of the hand, apart from other variations, like Varun Chakravarthy, who will pose the biggest threat. Salman Mirza, who didn’t play the previous game against USA, spent an extended time in the nets, working closely with Pakistan’s bowling coach, Ashley Noffke.
Meanwhile, Saim Ayub, who has improved massively as a bowler and will play a big role with the ball, focused on landing the balls in the right areas, with cones marked out on a good-length area. He was asked to hit the spot consistently, with the idea of keeping his length away from the Indian batters’ hitting arc.
Later in the session, the focus shifted to fielding, an area where Pakistan have shown immense improvements in recent times. Naseem Shah and Babar Azam practised high catches with a tennis ball under the lights, trying to track it against the glare.
On the other hand, Abrar Ahmed attempted run-outs in one motion with a solitary stump to target. He, along with Shaheen Afridi, also practised range hitting and spent some time with the bat in the nets.
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Around two hours into the session, Naseem Shah mimicked Usman Tariq’s action and the debated pause so accurately that he looked exactly like the spinner himself. He even went on to beat Abrar Ahmed with one such delivery.
Later, Shaheen also imitated Tariq’s action before turning into a left-arm orthodox, while Babar also rolled over his arm after his batting session. Usman Tariq himself had an extended stint, where he mostly bowled to Fakhar Zaman and the two Pakistan openers, Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub, at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
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