India did not get the same aggressive opening as they got during the home five match T20 a series against New Zealand with only seven runs coming from the very first over before they lost their fierce opening batter, Abhishek Sharma, for a golden duck as Ali Khan gave a unique celebration after the wicket at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.

Ishan Kishan played four dot deliveries in the opening over before smashing a sort of Netravalkar over deep backward square leg for a massive six, and ended the over with a single. However, Ali Khan sent back Abhishek on the very first ball of the second over of the innings as the field placement of the USA side was excellent to start with.

See Also: Pakistan makes U-turn on forfeited India clash from T20 World Cup 2026

The left-handed batter punched the short ball from Ali Khan straight into the hands of the deep cover fielder, where Sanjay Krishnamurti grabbed a fine catch. It saw the Punjab-born becoming the fifth batter, along with Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra, Shardul Thakur, and Deepak Hooda, to start a T20 WC innings with a duck.

Ali Khan's celebration from IND vs USA T20 WC 2026 clash goes viral 

Tilak Varma joined Ishan Kishan in the middle as he smashed Netravalkar for a massive six to release the pressure on the first delivery of the third over before backing it up with a boundary on the very next delivery at the fine leg fence. On the last ball of that over, Tilak Varma cracked a four on the leg stump.

Watch the video here: 

@StarSportsIndia pic.twitter.com/mXfNsVXTBw

— Cricket Everywhere✍🏻 (@Subhamk79241601) February 7, 2026

Abhishek has now been dismissed for a duck four times in his T20I career. Notably, three of those are first-ball ducks & have all come in 2026, with the third one coming today against the USA. India didn’t get the same start they liked the powerplay.

India lost the toss and was put into the bowl first by the USA captain, Monark Patel, as the home side decided to go with Mohammad Siraj in the eleven after Jasprit Bumrah failed to pass the fitness test with a fever.

Brief Scores: IND 45/2 (Tilak Varma 25, Ali Khan 1/13) vs USA. 

The upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 has to face another controversial state, as USA cricketer Ali Khan, who is a Pakistan-origin cricketer, claimed that he had not been granted a visa ahead of the tournament. 

He made this claim through a social media post, which has the caption, "India visa denied but KFC for the win." The USA international shared his photo with one of his teammates enjoying food at KFC. As there will be multiple Pakistan-origin players representing different national teams in the T20 World Cup, the visa controversy spread quickly.

Pakistani cricket fans on social media are claiming that Indian officials deliberately denied visas, as Ali Khan was born in Pakistan. But is it true that India rejected Khan's application for a visa for the T20 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7? Team India will be in action on the opening day of the tournament with the USA. Regarding the controversial situation, a media has emerged which contains different opinions.

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According to other claims, the visa denial claim made by the Pakistan-origin USA cricketer is not correct. According to a Cricbuzz report, the required documents for the visa were submitted exactly as required, and the process is underway. So, the claim made by Ali Khan is perhaps false.

Pakistan-origin USA players visa for T20 World Cup 2026 denied? Here's the actual fact

The Cricbuzz report further stated, "USA management received a call from the Indian Embassy indicating that some of the required information had been received, while additional inputs were still awaited from the Foreign Ministry. Once that process is complete, they will be contacted to proceed further. That is the current status."

Currently, the USA cricket team are in Sri Lanka for their preparations for the T20 World Cup. The visa denial claim spreads at a quick pace, as the UAE, Canada, Oman, and Italy cricket teams also have Pakistan-origin players in their squads.

USA fast bowler Ali Khan has revealed that his Indian visa application has been denied, less than a month before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The development has increased concern within the USA camp as the tournament closes.

Khan publicly shared the update and responded in a light manner, commenting, “India visa denied but KFC for the win,” in a calm mood despite the situation. However, the issue itself remains serious for the team as preparations continue.

As of now, Ali Khan’s case is the only confirmed one, but it has added uncertainty around the squad. USA Cricket and the International Cricket Council (ICC) have not yet issued any official statement on the matter.

More USA Players May Face Visa Problems

USA are placed in Group A and are scheduled to face hosts India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 7. They will also play the Netherlands and Namibia in Chennai during the group stage. If the visa issue is not resolved soon, the team could be forced into late squad changes. Several reports and social media discussions suggest that other USA players, including wicketkeeper-batter Shayan Jahangir and bowlers Ehsan Adil and Mohammad Mohsin, may be facing similar visa hurdles. However, no formal confirmation has been given so far.

USA pacer Ali Khan message on his Instagram handle.#AliKhan #T20WorldCup

VC: AliKhan pic.twitter.com/aggs8U74BT

— Saleh Ayub (@SALEHAYUB3) January 13, 2026

See Also: BCB rejects ICC request as T20 World Cup 2026 match venue controversy continues

Visa complications have been a concern for associate teams ahead of India-hosted matches, especially for players with Pakistani origin or documentation links due to extra verification processes. Along with other travel-related issues, this has added to off-field challenges before the World Cup.

From a cricketing point of view, missing a frontline fast bowler like Ali Khan so close to the tournament would be a big setback. USA’s recent progress has been built around disciplined bowling and a settled core, and any late disruption to the pace attack could affect match plans and their chances of advancing in the competition.

Fast bowler Ali Khan spoke about the preparations the USA cricket team requires ahead of the T20 World Cup. While speaking at an ICC promotional event in Dallas to mark the 100-day countdown to the T20 World Cup, Ali Khan asked the USA Cricket governing body to pick the best possible squad for the coveted event.

Ali Khan on USA’s training for T20 WC

Ali Khan informed that he has been doing personal training, but the team has not played much cricket in recent times. He urged the governing body therefore to step up for the team ahead of the World Cup.

“It’s been a while since USA cricket has played any series. So individually I have been doing my own training and I’ve just came back from ILT20. So I have been in good rhythm bowling well. We still have few months to get the guys together get the team together. We don’t have much time I think. Whoever is in charge they need to step it up and we need to play some cricket and play as a team because the team has to gel together because I’m sure there will be some new faces in the team as well.”

He added, “So yeah, they need to do some camps, they need to play against some quality oppositions. You have to play someone better than you, especially leading into the World Cup. If you want to get good results. You need to have a good preparation behind it, and we don’t have much time left and I think we need to we need to start playing some good cricket.”

Ali Khan wants selectors to pick best players

USA were last seen playing a T20I in July 2022. In the meanwhile, their associate counterparts Nepal, Canada, UAE, Netherlands and Scotland played more than 15 T20Is each by February 2024. No wonder, Ali Khan, the prominent name of the USA cricket is worried about the team’s preparation with less than 100 days left for the World Cup.

He further added, “If you are competing in an event like a cricket world cup, you have to bring your best players because you’re gonna be pitched against the best of players from around the world. So it’s a good thing that I am not a selector (laughs). It’s the selectors’ job to pick the best team and I’m sure they’ll do a great job picking the best 15.”