T20 World Cup: Pakistan ‘always ready’ for India despite late green light

Colombo—Pakistan captain Salman Agha insists his side never lost focus on Sunday’s high-stakes T20 World Cup showdown with India, even though Islamabad’s government granted approval for the contest only late Monday night after an eleventh-hour reversal of a boycott order.

The about-face preserved what is routinely billed as cricket’s most lucrative fixture, a fixture that has packed the 35,000-seat R Premadasa Stadium and is expected to draw a television audience running into the hundreds of millions. “This is a very big game and the magnitude is huge,” Agha said during Pakistan’s final training session at the ground on Saturday. “We were always ready for the game, whatever be the decision.”

Pakistan arrive at the encounter in confident form, having scraped home by three wickets in the last over against the Netherlands before easing past the United States by 32 runs. India, too, have won both of their Group A fixtures, setting up a winner-takes-all clash that will guarantee the victor passage to the Super Eights.

Agha believes his squad’s early acclimatisation to Colombo’s conditions could prove decisive. “We are in good momentum and I hope that being in Colombo since the start will help us,” he said, while cautioning that execution will be paramount. “We have to play good cricket to win the match.”

Weather may yet intervene; forecasts point to rain sweeping across the capital on Sunday evening. Should the teams get on the field, Agha expects spin to play a telling role and has identified Tariq Usman as his trump card against India’s deep batting order. “Tariq has been bowling well and I am sure the mystery element will make him our trump card,” he said, dismissing lingering questions over the legality of the bowler’s sling-arm action and pronounced pause at the crease. “He has been cleared twice so there are no worries.”

The captain also hopes the pre-match niceties will be observed, in contrast to last year’s Asia Cup meetings in Dubai when the teams did not exchange handshakes. “The game should be played in the true spirit of the game,” Agha remarked. “It has been the norm in cricket for years, but whatever way they want, we will only know tomorrow.”

India, meanwhile, have a fitness concern over explosive opener Abhishek Sharma, who has been laid low by a stomach bug. Agha offered his counterpart best wishes: “I hope he plays tomorrow. I hope he’s recovering well. We want to play against the best; good luck to him.”

With a place in the next phase on the line, the stage is set for another electrifying chapter in one of sport’s most storied rivalries.