Pakistan have been in Colombo for two weeks, it will be challenging for India to face them: Ryan ten Doeschate

Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has expressed his delight after knowing the Pakistan cricket team has finally reversed its stance on playing India in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. Notably, Pakistan had earlier stated that they won't take part in the game against the arch-rivals, but following the meeting with ICC and Bangladesh Cricket Board officials, the PCB took a U-turn, confirming they will face India as per the original plan.

Ten Doeschate has revealed that the Indian team was always optimistic about their game against the Men in Green and knew that a few negotiations would take place, which would reinstate the original schedule of the all-important Group A fixture in the twenty-team tournament. The assistant coach further mentioned that facing a strong side like Pakistan in the group stage of the event will eventually help India prepare themselves better.

"First of all, it's great that the game's back on. We kind of never changed our preparation; we knew that the game wasn't going to happen. We were always under the impression that something would transpire and we would play. So it's no big change the way we are going about things. And I guess we kind of got confirmation sort of late yesterday and early this morning. It started coming through that the game was going to go ahead, and we are delighted to have another chance to play against the quality side in this first phase of the tournament," ten Doeschate was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

The Indian dugout is wary of the fact that the Salman Ali Agha-led unit will have spent a couple of weeks in Colombo before facing them at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Sunday, February 15. On behalf of the team, ten Doeschate said that the Indian team will have to bring out their A-game during the encounter to make sure that Suryakumar Yadav & Co. do not hurt their chances for the Super Eights.

"We kind of accepted that as a status quo (to play), and until we got there and they didn't show up, we were assuming we were going to play. We also, we're trying to stay clear of all the politics I've mentioned before about the sentiments of the country and know the different politics between the two countries, but it's really important for us just to focus on the cricket side of things. It's going to be a challenge going to Colombo, where Pakistan has been for the last two weeks, and we are fully focused on just bringing our best game to that fixture next week," he added.

For the unversed, India are also scheduled to play Namibia before taking on Pakistan in a mouthwatering contest at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday, February 12. Abhishek Sharma may not be seen opening against the Namibians since he is hospitalised with a stomach infection. However, he is expected to hit the field running come the clash in Colombo.