3 min readFeb 11, 2026 08:38 PM IST
The last time India’s Tilak Varma had faced Pakistan in a T20I match was back in the Asia Cup last year when he played the innings of the lifetime in the final against the Men in Green to help the Men in Blue win the title. Now, with another encounter with Pakistan looming on February 15 after the Pakistan government withdrew the boycott of the India match, Tilak said they are excited about the prospect of playing their arch-rivals on the T20 World Cup stage.
“To be honest, we are very excited to play. We got to know that the match is going to take place day before. We are ready to play. We are watching all the teams. We are watching the bowlers and the batsmen. All the players and team members are ready to play. Now, we are in the match zone. The planning will start,” said Tilak on the eve of the Namibia game here on Thursday.
Talking more about the match, Tilak added: “We are going one by one in every match, so we will see, we have video analysis, we have the technology, so we will see how we are playing, how the wicket is behaving, we have already prepared, so everyone has different shots in their team, so the shots that we have to play in the wicket, the bowlers we have to target.”
On Tuesday, India assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate had acknowledged that Pakistan could enjoy a logistical edge having already spent considerable time in Colombo.
“It’s going to be a challenge going to Colombo where Pakistan have been for the last two weeks and we’re fully focused on just bringing our best game to that fixture next week,” he said.
India will play Namibia on Thursday and Ten Doeschate believes that clarity over Pakistan’s participation will allow both teams to approach the contest purely as a sporting rivalry.
With the ICC facilitating dialogue between the stakeholders to ensure the tournament proceeds smoothly, the focus now shifts firmly to the field where another high-voltage India-Pakistan encounter awaits.
