India captain Suryakumar Yadav said his team would travel to Colombo as planned for their Twenty20 World Cup clash against arch-rivals Pakistan, despite Pakistan's decision to boycott the match citing geopolitical tensions.
The Pakistan government directed its team to boycott the February 15 Group A contest to show solidarity with Bangladesh, who were replaced by Scotland following their refusal to tour India over safety concerns.
"Our mindset is clear," Suryakumar told reporters at the captains' pre-tournament press conference in Mumbai on Thursday.
"We have not refused to play - they have. We've booked our flight and we are going."
India, currently the top-ranked T20 team, are aiming to become the first side to defend the title, and also the first hosts to win the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan's boycott of the India match would leave them with little margin for error in their bid to reach the Super-8 stage, as only the top two teams from each group in the 20-team tournament advance.
Group A also features Namibia, the Netherlands, and the USA, who shocked Pakistan in the 2024 edition of the tournament.
Pakistan captain Salman Agha said the decision to boycott the game against India was "not in our control".
"It's a government decision, and we respect that," Salman told reporters in Colombo.
"Yeah, we lost to USA in the last World Cup, but that's history now. It's a new World Cup, it's a new team, and it's a new combination.
"All three teams in our group, they are very good sides... So we are preparing for these games like we always do against any other team."
Asked what would happen should India and Pakistan meet in a knockout game, Salman said they would follow government advice.
AUSTRALIA WILL BE WELL PREPARED, SAYS MARSH
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh played down the significance of their 3-0 series loss in Pakistan heading into the tournament.
"Look, Pakistan was Pakistan. We had a few guys missing and we come here with a long lead-in," Marsh said. "We will be very well-prepared for our first game."
Australia will be without Pat Cummins through injury, while Josh Hazlewood is likely to miss the early games.
Marsh expressed confidence in their bowling depth.
"One of the great things about Pat and Josh especially, being all three-format players is that we've been able to build a lot of depth within our squad and the guys that have come in have played a lot of cricket for our group.
"So we've got a lot of confidence in them to go out there and do the job when required and then we'll just pick teams based on the conditions."
England captain Harry Brook was upbeat about their chances of a third T20 World Cup title.
“We are confident, we want to go all the way in the tournament, but would still want to take it one game at a time,” Brook said.