Yes, purists will point to World Cup knockouts and Sharjah classics from cricket’s most treasured archive of rivalry. The chain reaction began in early January when Bangladesh stunned the cricketing world by refusing to travel to India for their scheduled World Cup matches after Mustafizur Rahman was denied IPL participation. Across ICC World Cups, India has won 15 of 16 encounters. India lifted the 2025 Asia Cup and began this World Cup campaign with wins over the USA and Namibia. Pakistan's Usman Tariq bowls a delivery during a practice session ahead of an ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between India and Pakistan/ PTIBut the X-factor is the left-arm mystery spinner Usman Tariq.

Source: The Telegraph February 14, 2026 20:50 UTC