T20 World Cup 2026: Rohit Sharma, Jay Shah in attendance for India vs Pakistan clash in Colombo

The atmosphere was electric at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, as India and Pakistan renewed one of cricket’s greatest rivalries in a blockbuster ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 group-stage encounter. 

Among the distinguished crowd watching the high-voltage clash were former India captain Rohit Sharma and ICC Chairman Jay Shah. Rohit, who had announced his retirement from the T20Is after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup, was spotted in the stands cheering on his former teammates with passion. Notably, he is also the brand ambassador for the ongoing event co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The Rohit-Shah duo was seen sitting in the stands together. 

Their presence was widely shared across social media, with fans reacting to the sight of two of Indian cricket’s most prominent figures supporting their side from the stands.

Speaking of the proceedings in Colombo, Pakistan won the toss and invited India to bat first in a crucial encounter. India were dominating the contest despite losing out Abhishek Sharma early as Ishan Kishan was on fire, scoring 77 off just 40 balls on a pitch was challenging for the batters.

However, once he was dismissed, India lost their way to an extent, with Suryakumar Yadav (32 off 29) and Tilak Varma  (25 off 24) struggling to get going. India eventually reached to 175 with some late hitting from Shivam Dube (27 off 17) and Rinku Singh (unbeaten 11 off 4)

As the reports had suggested earlier, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands with Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha at the toss. 

Speaking of the India-Pakistan rivalry in T20 World Cups, India have held an upper hand on seven occasions out of the eight matches that the two teams have played so far. Pakistan have tasted victory only once, which came in T20 World Cup 2021 as they defeated India by 10 wickets in Dubai.