Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha has tackled reports that the Indian Suryakumar Yadav will skip the photo shoot of the pre-final captain for the Asia Cup final. Agha said he is not bothered and confirmed that Pakistan will follow the Asian cricket Council protocol.
“They can do what they want, we will just follow the protocol. The rest is up to them – if they want to come, they will come, and if they don’t do that, we can’t do anything,” Agha told reporters on Saturday.
He insisted that the team is only focused on cricket and the goal of winning the final.
“We don’t focus on what we can’t control. Talking media, external noise, we ignore it. Our goal is the Asia Cup. We came here to play a good cricket, and tomorrow we want to win the final,” he added.
Rivalry between India-Pakistan still strong
The tension between India and Pakistan has been noticeable during the tournament. India made the headlines by refusing the traditional handshake with Pakistan players on the Worp and after their previous games.
Both the competition and the super four phases saw heated exchanges and lively parties, which further intensified the rivalry.
India has so far dominated Pakistan in both meetings, with opener Abhishek Sharma and Spinner Varun Chakravarthy who led the leadership. After the Super Four collision, Suryakumar Yadav hinted that the rivalry is less intense given the strong recent record of India.
Agha said, however, that the pressure in India-Pakistan games is always high.
“Yes, Pakistan-India games always wear busy. If I say otherwise, it would be wrong. But the truth is that we have made more mistakes than they, that is why we have lost. In these games the team that makes fewer mistakes usually wins our goal to reduce mistakes,” he said.
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