Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026, Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha said that the fate of the high-voltage clash against arch-rivals, India, is not in their hands. He also said that the Pakistani team will follow their government`s decision.
“Yeah, the India game, it`s not in our control. It`s a government decision, and we respect that. Whatever they are going to say, we do that,” he said.
The high-octane T20 World Cup 2026 clash between arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, is scheduled to be played on February 15 at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
Further speaking, the Pakistani skipper said that they will also play against three other teams. He also pointed out that in the previous edition, the “Green Shirts” suffered a defeat against the United States of America (USA), but said the new Pakistani team is ready to face them.
“We`re also playing three other games, and we are very excited about that. Yeah, we lost to the USA in the last World Cup, but that`s history now. It`s a new World Cup, a new team, and a new combination. And we are very excited for that,” said Agha.
While uncertainty remains over whether the match will take place against India, the Pakistan captain stressed that the team is fully focused on the rest of the World Cup group stage matches. “There are three other games. They can come and watch that game, and I`m sure they will be excited as well. Don`t worry”.
The T20 World Cup 2026 is scheduled to kick off from February 7. India and Pakistan are placed in Group A of the tournament along with teams such as Namibia, the Netherlands, and the United States of America (USA).
The “Green Shirts” will play their first match against the Netherlands on February 7 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, the Suryakumar Yadav-led men will face the USA in their first match on the same date at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
T20 World Cup 2026, IND vs PAK: Full squads
India: Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Harshit Rana.
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Babar Azam, Sahibzada Farhan (WK), Salman Ali Agha (C), Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan (WK), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Khawaja Nafay (WK), Usman Tariq.
(With ANI Inputs)
