Mumbai: With the much anticipated India-Pakistan mega clash in a limbo following the Pakistan government’s boycott call, India captain Suryakumar Yadav confirmed on Thursday that his team will be taking the flight to Colombo to play.
“Our mindset is pretty clear. We have not refused (to play against Pakistan). They have,” Yadav said at the captain’s day event in Mumbai on Thursday. “The ICC has given us the fixture. BCCI and the government have decided on neutral venues (for the match). Our flight is booked and we are going there (Colombo).”
“The discussion in the team is clear. First, we will play the match on the 7th (opening match, against USA). Then we will go to Delhi (second match, against Namibia) and after that we will go to Colombo. We played them three times in the Asia Cup, we played some good cricket. We won (all the matches) and we were very happy. Similarly, if we get an opportunity in Colombo, we will definitely play,” he added.
The scheduled India-Pakistan clash on Feb 15 in Colombo is India’s third league match of the upcoming T20 World Cup.
When pressed to answer what his message to those working to make the match happen was, Yadav felt, they may be helpless too. “I feel it is not an easy job. It is not my call. I am sure they (ICC) might be working out something as well, but it has come from the other government or the nation, how can they help as well,” Indian captain said.
“For them as well, I know it will be a difficult situation they will be in. But as I said, if we are told and the fixtures are ready, we will definitely go ahead,” he added.
Earlier in the day, at the captain’s day event in co-host city Colombo, Pakistan captain Salman Agha was flooded with questions around the flux surrounding the India-Pakistan match.
“The India game, it’s not in our control,” Agha repeated his words from last week. “It’s a government decision, and we respect that. Whatever they are going to say, we do that. And then, we’re playing three other games, and we are very excited about that.”
The Pakistan government decision is seen to be in support of Bangladesh, who were voted out of the tournament by the ICC board after an independent review found no evidence of a security threat to Bangladesh players in India. Bangladesh insisted they would only play if their matches were moved out of India.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave this clarification to members of his cabinet on Wednesday. “We have taken a very clear stand on the T20 World Cup that we won’t play the match against India because there should be no politics on the sports field. We have taken a very considered stance, and we should completely stand by Bangladesh, and I think this is a very appropriate decision. We are with Bangladesh,” he said.
In response, Bangladesh sports advisor Asif Nazrul posted “Thank You, Pakistan” on his official Facebook page.
Agha too spoke in support of the Bangladeshi team at the captain’s day. “Well, they are our brothers. Thank you very much (to them) for supporting us. And I’ll say they can support us in the tournament as well. And it’s really sad to see them. They are not playing the World Cup,” he said.
With the India-Pakistan match being the biggest money spinner of the tournament, invariably, other captains’ too were asked about the uncertainty and whether that was a distraction. “It’s up to the ICC and whoever is involved to have agreement or disagreement. It’s above my pay grade,” Harry Brook, England captain said.
West Indies captain Shai Hope said his team can only look to control the controllables.
