When India and Pakistan face each other, past records often take center stage. But according to Rohit Sharma, history means very little when the match actually begins.
World No. 1 T20I side India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their third Group A match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 on Sunday (February 15). The much-awaited clash will be held at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
India have dominated Pakistan in the T20 World Cup history, winning 7 out of 8 matches against the Men in Green. With that record, Suryakumar Yadav’s team will start as favourites. However, Rohit Sharma, who captained India to the 2024 T20 World Cup title, has made it clear that he does not believe in labels.
Speaking at a recent event in Dubai, Rohit shared a strong message for the defending champions and cricket fans alike.
“Firstly I never believed in this word called favourites. It’s such a funny game and we’ve seen it now there’s so much that has happened in this last 10 years of international cricket. All these teams have so much exposure now playing T20 cricket. You can’t just go and think that it’s a two-point victory for us. You just have to play good cricket on that particular day to achieve those points otherwise you might end up going home without anything,” Rohit Sharma said.
He further added, “So it’s not about what you’ve done in the past, what is your team like, players are in form or not form. You just have to play well on that particular day because every team is capable of beating any team on that particular day.”
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India’s only loss to Pakistan in the ICC World Cups came in the 2021 T20 World Cup, when Babar Azam-led side defeated them by 10 wickets in Dubai on October 24. Rohit was part of that Indian team.
Since then, India have won their last five T20Is against Pakistan, including three Asia Cup victories last year and one win each in the 2022 and 2024 T20 World Cups.
But as Rohit Sharma warns, when it comes to India vs Pakistan, records count for little, only performance on the day matters.
