Suryakumar Looks at Stats a Lot, He Understands What He Needs To Do: Abhishek Nayar

India will look to continue their winning momentum as they face arch-rivals Pakistan in the highly anticipated ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in Colombo. Speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Game Plan’, JioStar expert Abhishek Nayar explained the challenges Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi could pose to India’s opening duo, and how Suryakumar Yadav can navigate the spin attack from Usman Tariq and Mohammad Nawaz.

“Abhishek Sharma matches up really well against Shaheen Shah Afridi. Shaheen loves to take the ball away from left-handers. He knows Abhishek will use his feet against him. You may see a unique field set for Abhishek. Teams will bowl full-length deliveries to stop him from getting elevation and playing freely. They will try to keep it there and make him play to one side. We saw what USA did. They had a fielder at deep cover. Pakistan will likely do the same. They will try to make him play his shots on the off-side and cover regions. They will have fielders at deep cover and point to keep him to one area, especially at the start of his innings. So, Pakistan have their work cut out. It won't be easy for Abhishek because Pakistan knows what he wants to do. But the beauty of Abhishek is that despite plans against him, he knows how to disrupt the bowler’s rhythm and play his shots.”

“Ishan Kishan’s game is very similar to Abhishek Sharma. Pakistan can set a similar field for both. They can keep a sweeper and deep mid-wicket and then bowl wide to them. Most of Ishan’s runs come on the leg side. You cannot target his body because anything coming into him, he flicks off the hip. So, teams will want both batters to play their shots outside the off stump. That is exactly where Pakistan will want them to play. Numbers show Abhishek and Ishan do not score many runs in the off-side region. USA did this and got them out. Saurabh Netravalkar bowled wide to them. Ali Khan used the right-arm angle to bowl wide. But Pakistan have Shaheen Shah Afridi, and he will definitely bowl wide deliveries to both. But Ishan Kishan is a very smart cricketer. He may change his guard and come inside the line to access the on side. The Colombo ground is bigger and the pitch is slower. So, he will have to come up with new options.”

“Suryakumar Yadav is someone who looks at his stats a lot. He understands what he needs to do. I am pretty sure he will want to correct his stats against Pakistan, which show he has not scored a fifty against them yet. There is no better time than today’s match. Surya is in form and getting runs. What will be critical for him is how he starts against spin. We have often seen that the only way to put Surya under pressure is to bring spin early, keep the ball on a length, cover that square leg area, and keep targeting him. It will be very interesting to see how he navigates that when he takes the field against Pakistan.”

“For me, Mohammad Nawaz is someone who matches up really well against Suryakumar Yadav. He will come into his pads with left-arm spin. That is challenging. Usman Tariq will challenge every Indian batter because no one has played him much. His slingy action is unique. That will be a challenge. But I still feel, that with what Suryakumar Yadav has done in this tournament, he can take Tariq down with the sweep shot. We have not seen many batters traditionally sweeping him. But once Surya starts using that sweep effectively, he will have a good chance to take Usman Tariq down.”

“Hardik Pandya’s six-hitting ability is very unique. That is what the fear factor is about. He is someone who can make a difference. There is a lot more to see from him in this World Cup. So, you expect him to turn up for the big games. You expect him to bowl his variations. We saw him with the new ball in Delhi against Namibia. You expect that to happen against Sri Lanka. What has changed with Hardik is his consistency in bowling length. He bowls hard length balls. He gets the ball to tail away, but also seams it in. These are variations you usually see in red-ball cricket, but he does it with the white ball. I feel his off-cutters will be most effective. His ability to hit the pitch and get the ball away from both, left and right-handers, will be very important for India.”