T20 World Cup 2026: Abhishek Nayar picks India's playing XI for clash against Pakistan, suggests two interesting changes

Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar suggested two changes in India's playing XI for their upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 clash against Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, February 15.

Nayar opined that Kuldeep Yadav could be one of the inclusions in the side, considering the drills the left-arm wrist spinner was going through in the training session. Suryakumar Yadav's men had the opportunity to practice at the match venue on the eve of the eagerly-awaited clash.

"It's a very easy and straightforward answer for me. At the start, the team was playing football, and Kuldeep Yadav was taking catches. That gives you a message that Kuldeep Yadav will probably play, and he should play as well because he will be an extremely dangerous bowler on this pitch and this ground size," he responded when asked on JioHotstar about India's potential playing XI based on what he saw at the practice session.

Nayar believes that the spin-bowling pair of Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep could take wickets and also stop the flow of runs in the middle overs.

"When Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav bowl together between the seventh and the 14th over, they will not only stop runs but take wickets as well. You want two wicket-taking options, especially against these Pakistan batters," Nayar observed.

While adding Washington Sundar to the mix could be a tempting option, Nayar feels that India will not go down that route as the Tamil Nadu all-rounder has not played competitive cricket for over a month. Nayar mentioned that Kuldeep replacing Arshdeep Singh could be the only change in the bowling department.

My focus was on Abhishek Sharma from the start: Nayar

Nayar said that Abhishek Sharma's energy in the practice session was impressive. He mentioned how the Punjab batter smashed the in-form Varun Chakravarthy for sixes in the nets. The former India all-rounder believes that Abhishek will return to the side in place of Sanju Samson.

"When you come to the practice session, you see the energy in every player, and my focus was on Abhishek Sharma from the start. The energy was excellent. I was wondering how he would bat as he is playing after a long time and it's a big match," he said.

"However, based on what I saw, the way he played Varun Chakaravarthy in the nets, and the number of times he hit the ball into the stands, it seems like these are good signs for India because he is fit and raring to go. It didn't seem like even for once that he hadn't been playing for such a long time. The coach will be satisfied that his player and his bat are both in form," Nayar observed.

Abhishek Nayar's predicted India playing XI versus Pakistan: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.