Key points
- Match confirmed after political tensions eased
- Pakistan based in Colombo for fortnight
- Unbeaten in opening group matches
DELHI: India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has labelled the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 encounter against Pakistan in Colombo as a “challenge”, highlighting that the Pakistan squad has already spent two weeks in the Sri Lankan capital.
Speaking in Delhi on Tuesday, shortly after the Pakistan government withdrew its boycott of the 15 February group-stage fixture, Ten Doeschate said India’s build-up to the match had remained steady despite uncertainty over the past 10 days.
“First of all, it’s great that the game’s back on,” ten Doeschate said.
The former Netherlands international discussed the team’s approach and preparation ahead of the high-profile contest, stressing that India had continued planning as though the fixture would proceed.
External distractions
“We kind of never changed our preparation that the game wasn’t going to happen. We were always under the impression that something would transpire and we would play. So it’s no big change the way we are going about things. And I guess we kind of got confirmation sort of late yesterday and early this morning. It started coming through that the game was going to go ahead and we are delighted to have another chance to play against the quality side (Pakistan) in this first phase of the tournament.”
He added that the squad had deliberately avoided external distractions.
“We accepted the situation as a status quo — until they didn’t show up, we assumed we would play. We’ve tried to stay clear of the politics surrounding the match and focus solely on cricket. It will be a challenge playing in Colombo where Pakistan have already been based for two weeks, and our focus is simply on bringing our best game to that fixture next week.”
Pakistan have so far played their opening two group fixtures at the Sinhalese Sports Club and will meet India at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. They began their campaign with wins over the Netherlands on 7 February and the USA on Tuesday.
