India captain Suryakumar Yadav has confirmed that his team will fly to Colombo for their ICC T20 World Cup match against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 15, despite the latter deciding to boycott the fixture.
“Hamari toh flight booked hai Colombo ki, aur ham toh jaa rahe hain… aur baaki udhar dekh lenge [our flight is booked for Colombo and we are going. Rest we will see there]. The discussion within the team is also clear.
First, we will play the match on [February] 7 [vs USA]. Then we will go to New Delhi [for the match against Namibia on February 12], and after that we will go to Colombo,” Suryakumar said during the captains’ press conference at the BCCI headquarters at Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Defending champions India are placed in Group A alongside USA, Pakistan, Namibia, and the Netherlands, and will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against the Monank Patel-led USA at Wankhede on Saturday.
Continuing to speak on the Indo-Pak match boycott row, Suryakumar added: “Our mindset is pretty clear. We have not said no [to playing Pakistan]. They have. The ICC has given the fixture. Our flight is booked and we are going there [to Colombo].” After Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland for refusing to play in India citing security concerns, the Pakistan team received instructions from their government to skip the match against India.
“It was their [Pakistan] decision, it’s not in my control. I wish I could take their decisions, but it’s their call. We have been told that we have to play a game there [in Colombo] on [February] 15. We played them three times in the Asia Cup [recently], we played some good cricket and won [all the matches]. Similarly, if we get an opportunity in Colombo, we will definitely play,” Suryakumar added.
Pak PM: Decision to boycott India game appropriate, we are with Bangladesh
Calling Pakistan’s boycott of their T20 World Cup match against India an “appropriate decision”, the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that it was a “considered stance” to support Bangladesh.
Shehbaz Sharif
Pakistan’s cricket team has been told by the government to skip the February 15 game in Colombo after Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland for refusing to play its games in India on account of “security concerns”.
“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,” Sharif stated after a government meeting here.
“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 added. In response, Bangladesh sports advisor Asif Nazrul posted “Thank You, Pakistan” on his official Facebook page, while quoting Sharif’s statement.
