T20 World Cup 2026 [Watch]: Hardik Pandya draws first blood, dismisses Sahibzada Farhan in IND vs PAK clash
Hardik Pandya gives India the perfect start by dismissing Sahibzada Farhan early in the T20 World Cup 2026 clash against Pakistan.
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The arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, meet in the 27th match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 in Colombo. The anticipation around the game was quite high, but the reality turned out to be quite different. India were invited to bat first after losing the toss. They ended up scoring 175 runs in the first innings, all thanks to Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma's performance.
While the scores looked below par, Indian bowlers made it look like a mountain. Hardik Pandya started with an outstanding over, where he dismissed Sahibzada Farhan for a duck. Pandya bowled a short of length delivery into the pitch with some away movement, and Farhan tried to hit the ball towards the boundary. However, the ball went up in the air towards the mid-on, where Rinku Singh took a comfortable catch.
Watch the video here:
Pandya kept the entire over tight, without leaking runs. Pakistan batters were directly under pressure since Farhan was their best option to attack Jasprit Bumrah, as he had done in the past. With Farhan gone, the batters had to face Bumrah and the rest of India's spin bowling attack. Pandya kept the next over tight as well, adding extra pressure on the batters.
When Bumrah came into the bowling attack, he dismissed Saim Ayub in the second over, followed by captain Salman Agha. Both players were clueless against Bumrah's bowling. After their dismissals, wickets kept falling like a pack of cards. Once again, the Indian bowlers proved why they are known as the most dangerous bowling attack in the world.
Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel claim two wickets against Pakistan
India's star bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel were phenomenal against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2026. They claimed wickets at regular intervals, forcing Pakistan batters to make unwanted errors. They were constantly under pressure as the boundaries had started to fade. Bumrah and Axar both claimed two wickets each and conceded a few runs as well.
As we write, Pakistan have already lost seven wickets and are not looking like they could chase down the target. India will qualify for the Super 8 after this game if they manage to take the game home. It was an incredible performance from the entire team and they will be quite satisfied with themselves.
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