T20 World Cup: Pakistan pacer Salman in dark about verdict on India game

The tight, fast-moving format of the T20 World Cup does not give much leeway to any team to plan ahead – and it does not help the teams if the fate of the India-Pakistan game is uncertain despite being only five days away.

Much like the Captains Day when Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha had put the onus on their government, fast bowler Salman Mirza did the same ahead of facing the doughty US in their second league game in Colombo on Tuesday.

The question of their overall planning for the group stage matches came up – whether they are keeping the 15 February match out of the equation and just focusing on other rivals Netherlands, US and Namibia.

‘’We are preparing for the entire World Cup and will play accordingly to the team we have to play. It will be the decision of the government (regarding playing India. We will do whatever is told to us,’’ said Salman, who opened the new ball attack with Shaheen Shah Afridi on way to their hard-earned win against the Dutch.

 There is a new window of opportunity for the most sought after match of this World Cup to happen after all after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had a five-hour tripartite meeting with ICC and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in Lahore on Sunday. It is learnt that Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB chairman and their interior minister, has appraised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif about the proceedings.

There are now conflicting reports about the ICC’s response to the three demands raised by PCB during the meeting – an increase in the revenue share for Pakistan board, resumption of bilateral series between India and Pakistan and ensuring that no handshake episode happens ever again. There is also talk about a suggestion of a tri-series between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – though it looks highly untenable at the moment.

Meanwhile, Salman admitted they would be on their guard against the US that there are ‘no easy matches’ in the World Cup. The green shirts made a heavy weather of a modest target against Netherlands in the opener before winning it by three wickets and now run into US, who sent shivers down a heavy duty batting line-up of India to reduce them to 77 for six at one stage.

Come Tuesday, Pakistan will be playing their first night game against a team which had shocked them in the 2024 edition of World T20. ‘’It’s the World Cup and all the matches are important, whether is the first, second or final. If you follow the World Cup, you will see that all the games are close. This is the beauty of cricket, that close games are a must. The main objective is to win the game,’’ remarked Salman, who bowled a highly disciplined spell for figures of 3.5-0-24-3 against the Dutch.  

The emergence of a new talent like Salman has forced Naseem Shah to the dugout, clearly making the former the strike partner of Afridi.

When asked, Salman played the issue down: ‘’Let me clear one thing first. No one plays in anyone’s place, depending on the situation and conditions of the game the playing 11 are selected, whether I play, Shaheen or Naseem. Obviously, I have played with Shaheen a lot before so I have a good bonding with him. I have a good discussion with him and he helps me a lot, I also help him out a lot.

 ‘’We are focused on the coming match and we are focusing on the match one-to-one, whichever is coming up. Regarding the match on the 15th, that is the decision of the government, whatever they decide we will play accordingly,’’ he added.