India Game Not in Our Control, It's Govt's Decision: Pakistan Captain Salman Agha

Colombo: Maintaining his cricket board's stance, Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha on Thursday stressed that the decision to boycott the T20 World Cup match against India was taken by their government and was "not in our control." Pakistan on Sunday announced a boycott of its high-profile men's T20 World Cup group league fixture against India on February 15 here. However, the Pakistani government cleared the national team's participation in the rest of the global event starting February 7.

"The India game is not in our control. It's the government's and the PCB's decision and we respect that. Whatever they are going to say, we will do that," Agha said during the captain's conference.

The T20 showpiece begins across venues in India and Sri Lanka on Saturday.

Agha said in the event of the two arch-rivals clashing in the knockouts, they will again abide by the decision taken by the Pakistan government.

"If we have to play them again in the semifinal or final, we will have to go back to them and act on their advice," Agha said.

Pakistan's decision, which was conveyed through an official government statement, is a political protest against Bangladesh's removal from the tournament. The ICC declined Bangladesh's request to shift matches from India to Sri Lanka on security grounds.

During the press conference here, Agha was also reminded about Pakistan's embarrassing defeat to lesser-fancied USA in the last edition of the tournament in the Americas.

"Yes, we lost to the USA in the last World Cup, but that's history now. It's a new World Cup, a new team and a new combination, and we are very excited about it."

"It's my first World Cup as a captain, and I'm very excited about that. I don't know how to describe myself as a captain.

"As a captain, I just want to lead from the front and do as much as I can for the team, get the best out of the team, and prepare an environment where they can play at their best," Agha said.