Pakistan’s spin-heavy squad are in winning form ahead of the T20 World Cup, but a controversial decision to forfeit their marquee clash against India could still trigger another early exit.
Pakistan came close to withdrawing from the tournament in solidarity with Bangladesh, who pulled out after refusing to play in India, citing security concerns.
The Pakistan government eventually cleared the team’s participation but it barred them from facing India in Colombo in a blockbuster clash on February 15.
With two points for a win, a forfeit of the match will leave Pakistan with no margin for error if they are to progress as one of the top two from a five-team Group A.
It means they must win their opening game against the Netherlands in Colombo on Saturday and beat the United States three days later to stay in contention.
Their final group game will be against Namibia on February 18.
Captain Salman Agha said the move to boycott the India game was out of the team’s hands.
“That is not our decision. We have to follow what our government decides,” he said.
The Pakistan government has not said what their stance might be if the team were to end up facing India again in the semi-finals or final. Agha was not thinking about that.
“Our job is to win, and we are capable of doing that,” he said.
Pakistan will be keen to avoid a repeat of the last T20 World Cup in 2024, where a shock super over defeat to co-hosts the United States led to them failing to get out of the group.
The side has since faced criticism for failing to adapt to the modern demands of T20 cricket, with the batting, particularly Babar Azam’s low strike rate, under scrutiny.
The criticism was fuelled by Pakistan’s record last year, where 21 of their 34 T20 international wins came against lower-ranked opponents.
