That is one way to settle a contest in a format built for chaos. Abbas Afridi did not just swing the game Pakistan’s way against India on Friday — he ripped it open with five consecutive sixes off Krunal Pandya, the kind of burst that turns a tidy chase into a demolition job.
Pakistan had already spent the earlier part of the day licking their wounds after a one-wicket defeat against the United Arab Emirates, so there was no room for hesitation in their Hong Kong International Sixes 2026 clash with India. They won the toss, chose to bowl, and did the job with enough control to leave India on 88 for five in six overs. That total was never going to feel safe once Abbas arrived.
Abbas Afridi changes everything
Pakistan needed 89 and got there in 3.5 overs, finishing on 92 for two in a four-wicket victory. The headline numbers are outrageous enough, but the real story is Abbas Afridi’s 35 off eight balls, built around that savage spell against Krunal Pandya. Five straight sixes is not a contribution; it is a statement.
Krunal Pandya finished with nine runs in 19. Abbas Afridi needed only eight balls to take command of the match and leave India with no realistic way back. In a six-a-side tournament, momentum is everything, and Pakistan seized it in the most brutal fashion possible.
What the result means
The win took Pakistan to the top of Group C with two points from two matches, while India dropped to the bottom of the three-team group with zero points. That matters because this format does not allow much breathing room. One flat performance and the table starts to look ugly very quickly.
There was also a curious afterglow off the field. After the win on Friday, Shehbaz Sharif posted congratulations on X, calling it a superb four-wicket victory over India in the opening clash of the Hong Kong Sixes 2026 and also praising Mohsin Naqvi and the Pakistan Cricket Board for their efforts. The wording did not quite match the timeline, since Pakistan had already played the United Arab Emirates earlier in the day, but the cricket itself was impossible to misread.
This was Abbas Afridi’s night, and he made sure everyone knew it. In a tournament where every over can tilt the entire picture, five consecutive sixes is not just a highlight. It is a hammer blow.
