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Suryakumar Yadav bowling in nets - (Source: X.com)
We are just a day away from witnessing the biggest clash in cricket. Two heavyweight India and Pakistan will lock horns against each other on February 15 at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The two teams are sweating hard in the nets as a win would secure a foot in the Super Eight stage.
It will be India’s first interaction with Pakistan since the Asia Cup 2025, where the Men in Blue beat the Salman Agha-led side thrice in a week. However, this time around, the Suryakumar Yadav-led side have a new challenge in the form of Usman Tariq.
Usman Tariq wreaks havoc in the T20 World Cup 2026
The Pakistan spinner has been making the news for his unusual action, which has drawn mixed reactions. A section of fans hailed the spinner, while the rest accused the PAK ace of chucking. Nonetheless, Tariq has picked up three wickets in a solitary appearance and is all set to be fielded against India as confirmed by Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha.
During the pre-match presser, Suryakumar Yadav too addressed Tariq’s threat and stated that the team has been practising to counter him in the training and dismissed his fear with the ‘won’t surrender to him’ remark.
Suryakumar Yadav mimics Usman Tariq’s action in the nets
Meanwhile, in the latest events, the ICC has released a small clip on their social media showing India’s training session in Colombo. In the now viral video, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav mimicked Usman Tariq’s action to help batters practice and counter Pakistan spinner’s threat.
SKY aptly emulated Tariq’s action and bowled to Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh and a few others.
Suryakumar Yadav reflects on Usman Tariq's threat
As mentioned above, Suryakumar Yadav had addressed Tariq's threat and stated that the team is already practising in the nets.
“If you get an out of syllabus question in the exams you don’t leave it, you try and answer that. That is what we will look to do. He is a different character but we cannot surrender to him. And it is not that we have not practiced against bowlers with unusual action, we will plan and practice accordingly,” the Indian captain said during his presser.
Why is there so much chatter around Usman Tariq?
For those confused as to why is there so much chatter around Tariq, despite him playing just a solitary match, then it is because of his action. Tariq is a different character because of his 'pause and bowl' action.
It has been criticised by many for putting the batters off-guard and has been the talking point in the last couple of days. Further, Salman Agha also hyped him up by stating that Tariq is his X-Factor, putting extra pressure on India.
Meanwhile, Agha also addressed the chucking claims and stated that Usman has been cleared by the ICC twice.
“I don’t know why there is so much chatter around Usman Tariq. He has been cleared by ICC. India has hyped him but he is not affected by all that,” Agha said.
Now it is to be seen how much will SKY's training help the Indian batters.
