Former India player-turned-commentator Irfan Pathan has said that Pakistan has many all-rounders but very few pure batters, which India can exploit during their T20 World Cup 2026 match as well. The match will take place on Sunday, February 15, at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as well.

Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel on Wednesday, February 11, Pathan said: “I don’t think they are that strong in the middle overs; if we manage to take a few early wickets, they have a lot of all-rounders and very few pure batters, so this could work to India’s advantage. If India manages to pick up a couple of early breakthroughs, then our spinners can squeeze their main batters, especially Babar Azam, in the middle overs. After that, they do not really have too many strong options.”

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“They do not have the same quality in pure batting that you would ideally want, because if four or five of your players are pure batters and the rest are all-rounders, you may have batting depth, but not necessarily great solidity. From Pakistan’s perspective, this is an area the Indian team can definitely target. That is why, if India plays three spinners, you have around 12 overs of spin to choke them in the middle phase. On top of that, you can also use Abhishek Sharma as a bowling option, and even Tilak can chip in with the ball,” he further added.

However, Irfan Pathan also shared that Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi has been struggling with his bowling recently.

“From what we have seen of Shaheen’s bowling, his yorkers are not quite hitting the mark, and that zip we used to see earlier is missing. With the new ball, the sharp inswing that was once very noticeable is not as prominent now. His shoulder is opening up a bit more as well. The Indian team can take advantage of that. Of course, Sri Lankan conditions do assist bowlers, so that could be a different factor,” Irfan Pathan concluded.