Salman Ali Agha, the captain of Pakistan, stated on Monday that the players will abide by any directives from the government or the Cricket Board regarding their boycott of the marquee T20 World Cup match against India on February 15 in Colombo.
Before the team left Lahore for Colombo, Salman told the media that the team manager had told the players about the decision on Sunday right after the game against Australia.
“We are players contracted to the Board and whatever decision our government and Board have taken all the players are on board with it,” Salman said.
Salman stated that the team was traveling to Sri Lanka with the intention of performing well and attempting to win every match against every country in the competition. The T20 World Cup, he said, was not simply about playing against India.
“We have three other group matches so we will try to win all of them and qualify for next round,” he said.
Former players including Moin Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Mohsin Khan, as well as former captains like Shahid Afridi, Muhammad Yousuf, and Rashid Latif, have expressed support for the decision to boycott the game against India.
“What the ICC did to Bangladesh or the way they have bowed before the Indian cricket board in recent years, it was time someone took a stand,” Latif said.
Afridi acknowledged that he understood the rationale behind Pakistan’s decision to not play India, even if he was sad since he didn’t think politics should be mixed with sports.
“The ICC now has to decide which path it wants to take in the larger interests of world cricket,” Moin said.
According to Sarfaraz, he could see why the Pakistan Cricket Board was denied permission to play India.
The Pakistan team arrived in Colombo amid the controversy to play its remaining games in the marquee event beginning on February 7.
According to a top PCB source, if another matchup versus the bitter rivals is scheduled during the tournament’s knockout stage, the Board will abide with government directives. Pakistan’s campaign will begin on February 7 against the Netherlands, followed by games against the USA on February 10 and Namibia on February 18.
The shocking decision by Pakistan to skip the February 15 match is being seen as a gesture of solidarity with Bangladesh, who were ousted for refusing to play in India due to security concerns.
