MUMBAI: India’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav mentioned on Thursday that his staff would journey to Sri Lanka to play their ICC Males’s T20 World Cup 2026 group match in opposition to Pakistan, regardless of the Inexperienced Shirts’ announcement that they are going to boycott the match in opposition to Males in Blue within the match.
Addressing a press convention after the Captains’ Carnival, Yadav emphasised that the gamers are totally ready to observe the official plan laid out by the ICC, BCCI and the federal government, underlining that there was no reluctance from India’s facet to play the match.
“I believe mindset is fairly clear. Now we have not mentioned no to taking part in the match. It got here from the opposite facet. ICC has given the official fixtures. BCCI and the federal government has selected a impartial venue together with ICC. Our flight is booked for Colombo. So we’re going for positive,” Suryakumar mentioned.
He additional make clear the staff’s inside planning and discussions, outlining the roadmap for his or her match marketing campaign and confirming that the squad is aligned with the schedule introduced by the governing our bodies.
“The staff dialogue is that we’re taking part in first on February 7, then we’ll go there,” he added.
In the meantime, Pakistan’s T20I captain Salman Ali Agha additionally commented on the continued ambiguity surrounding a possible encounter in opposition to India, reiterating that the ultimate name rests with the federal government.
He emphasised that neither the cricket board nor the gamers have any authority over the matter, and that the federal government’s choice will likely be last.
“The choice relating to the match in opposition to India must be made by the federal government. Whether or not there will likely be a match in opposition to India or not is unsure, however we’ll observe no matter the federal government decides,” Salman Ali Agha mentioned.
On February 1, the federal government of Pakistan introduced that its nationwide males’s staff would take part within the ICC Males’s T20 World Cup 2026 however wouldn’t take the sphere within the group-stage match in opposition to arch-rivals India.
The choice was shared via the official X deal with of the federal government of Pakistan.
“The federal government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan grants approval to the Pakistan Cricket Workforce to take part within the ICC World T20 2026, nonetheless, the Pakistan Cricket Workforce shall not take the sphere within the match scheduled on fifteenth February 2026 in opposition to India,” the federal government of Pakistan acknowledged.
Pakistan had determined to boycott the February 15 match in opposition to arch-rivals India to point out solidarity with Bangladesh, which the Worldwide Cricket Council (ICC) kicked out of the match after rejecting Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) request to maneuver their matches to a venue exterior India.
