Salman Agha would rather talk about cover drives than cold shoulders. On the eve of the much-anticipated India-Pakistan T20 World Cup fixture in Colombo, the Pakistan captain said the contest should, above all, “be played in that spirit of cricket”.
The reminder comes after last year’s Asia Cup, when India’s players – acting on a late BCCI directive – avoided the customary handshakes. That snub, followed by India declining to collect the trophy from PCB chair Mohsin Naqvi, pushed cricket off the front page and politics firmly on it. Agha hopes Sunday night does the opposite. “What I expect doesn’t matter. But I do feel the game should be played in the way it has been played since cricket started. Rest is upto them [India], whatever they want to do.”
Whether the sides actually clasp hands remains unknown; Agha answered the question with a grin and a teaser – “We will find out tomorrow.” Even so, the fixture’s pull is undiminished. The 35,000 seats at the R Premadasa Stadium sold out in hours, and television audiences on both sides of the border are expected to run into the hundreds of millions.
One week ago the match itself looked in doubt. Islamabad announced a boycott, only to back-track after hasty calls between the ICC, PCB and cabinet ministers. With the political fires damped, at least for now, attention swings back to runs, wickets and weather – showers are forecast, though Sri Lankan evenings have been kind this week.
From India’s side, Cheteshwar Pujara – these days more television pundit than Test number three – laid out his ideal script: “A ten-wicket win for India would be ideal.” He also pushed for wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav to return to the XI, arguing that the Premadasa surface “always keeps finger spinners interested but rewards the guy who can rip it both ways”. India’s camp, as usual, kept team news under wraps.
History is lopsided. Pakistan have beaten India only once in men’s T20 World Cups, in Dubai, 2021. Agha himself owns three defeats out of three as captain. He insists the past will not bat on Sunday. “We don’t have a good record against them in World Cups. But each time you play a new match, it is a new day and you have to play good cricket to win. You can’t change history, but you can learn from it. And we have learned things and we will try and put up a good performance and win.”
Some Indian journalists suggested Pakistan enjoy a small edge by being stationed in Colombo for the entire tournament while India criss-cross the island. Agha was unconvinced. “We are based in Colombo and playing all our matches here, but I don’t know how that is an advantage. On the ground, you …” He drifted off, perhaps unwilling to offer bulletin-board material.
As ever, selection remains a talking point. Pakistan’s top order mis-fired during recent warm-ups, yet the management appear reluctant to break up the usual opening pair. A trimmed squad means only one spare quick; the final XI may hinge on the morning’s cloud cover. India, by contrast, rotate almost everyone except their captain and frontline seamer. The risk is rhythm; the benefit, fresher legs in a tournament that can feel like three matches compressed into one.
Analytically, two factors stand out. First, boundary percentages – Pakistan’s death-overs hitting has slid below 14 per cent since last year, the lowest among top eight nations, while India sit above 18. Second, spin economy; Pakistan concede 6.9 runs per over in the middle phase, India 7.6. Whoever flips those trends on Sunday probably walks away with the points.
Still, numbers rarely tell the full story of an India-Pakistan match. “Bilkul [definitely], this game, its magnitude has always been bigger and will continue to be bigger,” Agha said, looking across an interview room packed shoulder-to-shoulder with reporters. “Tomorrow, too, the magnitude of the game will be bigger.”
Bigger, yes, but Agha wants it cleaner. A handshake or not, an embrace or not, his request is simple: bat, ball and crowd noise, not boardroom manoeuvres, should dominate the highlights.
