Colombo: Pakistan T20I captain Salman Ali Agha has spoken about the uncertainty surrounding the team’s possible clash against India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 to be held in Sri Lanka on February 15.
During a recent media conference ahead of Pakistan’s World Cup matches, Agha addressed the current ambiguity over the possibility of meeting India.
He stressed that neither the cricket board nor the players have any authority in the matter and the government’s decision is final.
“The government has to take a decision regarding the match against India. It is uncertain whether the match against India will happen or not, but we will follow whatever decision the government takes,” said Salman Ali Agha.
Indian game is not under our control. It is the government’s decision and if we have to play them in the semi-final or the final, we will go back to them and act on their advice.
Reflecting on Pakistan’s recent form, Agha expressed confidence in the team’s preparation and performance, highlighting the improvement over the past six months and since the Asia Cup.
“In the previous matches, we didn’t perform as expected by the fans. This time the team is playing well, we have been playing well for the last 6 months and we have been playing well since the Asia Cup. We will do well,” he said.
The right-handed batsman, who will captain the team for the first time in the World Cup, shared his excitement ahead of the tournament.
“As captain, this is my first World Cup and I am very excited. I hope the team will do well under my captaincy,” Agha said.
He emphasized the team’s focus on preparing and maintaining a positive mindset rather than worrying about factors beyond their control.
“We are not focusing too much on things that we cannot control. We will try to play good cricket and hope to see a good match against other teams. No team is small in the World Cup and we are preparing well for the match against Netherlands,” said Salman Agha.
Reflecting on the green shirts’ previous World Cup performances and lessons learned, Agha spoke of the team’s determination to bounce back.
“We lost to America in the last World Cup and we are determined to put that disappointment behind us and put some things right,” Agha said.
While reflecting on his fond memories of playing in Sri Lanka, Agha also expressed his disappointment over Bangladesh not participating in the tournament.
“It is unfortunate that the Bangladesh team is not in the World Cup. Sri Lanka feels like my second home; the people are very polite and well behaved. Whenever I have played cricket in Sri Lanka, it has been good,” he concluded.
Pakistan will formally begin their campaign against the Netherlands at the Sinhala Sports Club Stadium in Colombo on February 7, followed by group stage matches against USA on February 10 and Namibia on February 18.
On February 15, R. The Green Shirts were scheduled to face arch-rivals India at the Premadasa Stadium. However, the Pakistani government has banned Blockbuster from participating in the tournament.
Following the group stage, the top two teams from each of the four pools advance to the Super Eight stage, in which the eight teams are divided into two groups of four.
The top two teams in each group will qualify for the semi-finals on March 4 and 5.
If Pakistan reach the semi-finals and final, the knockout matches will be held in Colombo; Otherwise, the semi-final and final will be held in Kolkata and Ahmedabad respectively.
Pakistan Team: Salman Ali Agha (catch), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faqar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafe (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shahman Afridi, Usman Khan.