Suryakumar Yadav responded to the challenge of Pakistani spinner Usman TariqImage Credit source: PTI
Whenever there is a clash between India and Pakistan, it is often seen that one player remains the center of discussion before the match. For many years, there was talk about star players like Sachin Tendulkar, Shoaib Akhtar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi. Just a few months ago, Abhishek Sharma was in focus in the Asia Cup. This time, before the match of T20 World Cup 2026, these things are being talked about Pakistan’s spinner Usman Tariq, who is in the news for his action. Usman Tariq, who is proving to be an enigma for many batsmen, is being considered a threat to India, but is Team India ready for this?
The right-arm off-spinner just a few weeks before the start of the T20 World Cup. Osman Tariq Made his international debut. Before that, he was in the headlines due to his strange bowling action in other tournaments including the Caribbean Premier League. Pausing just before releasing the ball and then releasing the ball with a side-arm action has proved to be a problem for the batsmen. But at the same time there has been an uproar over his action. For these reasons, Usman Tariq is in the news the most in the World Cup.
How prepared is Team India for Tariq?
Especially before the match against India, there is maximum discussion about him. In such a situation, the hope is that Team India would have made preparations to deal with them and captain Suryakumar Yadav has assured of this. In the press conference a day before the match, when a Pakistani journalist asked Tariq about an ‘out of syllabus’ question, Surya said, “If you are asked a question outside the syllabus in the exam, then you do not leave it but try to answer it.”
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The Indian captain further said, “We will also try to do the same. Yes, he is a different kind of bowler but on the other hand, we will also not surrender. We practice with bowlers with different types of actions like this. Whatever we are practicing in the nets session, we will try to implement it on the field.”
That’s why Tariq will be a challenge for Indian batsmen
This will be the first time for the Indian team when they will face Usman Tariq. It is not going to be easy for Team India to deal with this bowler. There are some reasons for this but the most important one is that the Colombo pitch is expected to be slow and helpful to the spinners. Second, 6 out of the top 8 in the Indian batting order at any given time are left-handed batsmen. In such a situation, this can be even more helpful for Tariq. In such a situation, this clash can decide the course of this match.
