“That is the only ammunition Pakistan have against India”

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes attacking with spin is Pakistan’s only hope in the T20 World Cup 2026 clash between the sides in Colombo on February 15. While calling the Men in Blue the massive favorites, Manjrekar raised concerns over their ability to play spin.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has gone spin-heavy in this tournament, with as many as five spin-bowling options in the playing XI in their last game against the USA.

Talking about the upcoming India-Pakistan contest on his Instagram handle:

“That is the only ammunition Pakistan have against India. But it’s only a small amount of ammunition. So India should beat Pakistan comfortably once again. Pakistan are not quite the team that it was over the years. So the hype will be there, but we should expect the same result. But the only cause of worry, if at all, Pakistan are smart and attack India with spin, they might just make the contest a little more interesting.”

He added:

“But if there is a shocking or unexpected result, it could actually come with Pakistan attacking India with spin. They’ve got six spinning options in their squad, and if they pick the right playing 11, they would have five spinning options. And that is what they have to attack India with, and not with Shaheen Afridi or Naseem Shah. They should attack India with spin because India have shown a slight vulnerability to spin in recent times.”

Pakistan has struggled against India across formats, losing their last eight matches and their previous five in T20Is.

“It’s more of a non-contest than a contest between India and Pakistan” – Sanjay Manjrekar

Despite his claims about Pakistan potentially threatening India with spin, Sanjay Manjrekar still believes the latter should register a comfortable win. The Men in Blue have been in red-hot form in T20Is, winning 22 out of their last 26 matches.

They have also enjoyed the upper hand over Pakistan in T20 World Cups, winning seven out of the eight games.

“We can expect the same as the last few years. India should beat Pakistan. In fact, these days, it’s more of a non-contest than a contest between India and Pakistan. India has just become too strong and subsequently, Pakistan has become weaker and weaker,” said Manjrekar (via the aforementioned source).

Both teams are unbeaten thus far in the ongoing T20 World Cup, winning their opening two matches of the group stage.