New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) The Indian men's cricket team left for Sri Lanka for Sunday's crucial Group A clash against Pakistan in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 in Colombo.

Both India and Pakistan have won their first two matches respectively and are angling for the two qualifying spots for the Super 8s from Group A. The team winning the clash to be played at the R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, will likely top the group and also carry the momentum into the next stage.

On Friday evening, the Indian players, along with their companions and family members, boarded a flight from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi for Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital that will host the most-anticipated and commercially vital match of the tournament.

Both India and Pakistan started their campaigns on February 7 with the Green Shirts defeating the Netherlands by three wickets while the Men in Blue survived a scare against the United States, reducated to77/6 before they fought back thanks to skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who scored an unbeaten 84, and pacer Mohd Siraj (3-29) to win the match by 29 runs.

India were far more assured in their performance in their second match against Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, winning by 93 runs. Pakistan defeated the USA by 32 runs in Colombo.

The India versus Pakistan clash was under a cloud of uncertainty after the Pakistan government announced on February 1 that its team had been told to boycott the match. The Pakistan government took this decision in support of Bangladesh, who were thrown out of the T20 World Cup after they refused to send their team to India for their matches and sought moving them to Sri Lanka, a demand rejected by the ICC.

The crisis was eventually resolved when the Pakistan government made a U-turn following negotiations with the ICC and a request by the Sri Lankan government that pointed to the huge losses it would suffer if the match was not played.

--IANS

bsk/