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Ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, former Indian all-rounder Madan Lal said on Saturday that the contest is no longer the "most important" match, asserting that the final of the tournament carries greater significance.
The much-anticipated India-Pakistan encounter is set to take place in Colombo on Sunday after the Pakistan government ended its earlier decision to boycott the fixture following deliberations led by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Speaking to ANI, Madan Lal said that while the India-Pakistan clash generates massive viewership and emotional reactions, the ultimate goal remains winning the tournament. "The most important match is the final one, not India vs Pakistan. It used to be a crucial match earlier, but now you just play it and try to win. Though it has a very high viewership, our relationship with Pakistan has not been good since 1947, making it a more tense match. Here, we take it as a game; do not start abusing our players and breaking our televisions. But Pakistan takes the game a little too much to their heart," he said. The all-rounder cautioned that a "favourite" cannot be predicted in T20 cricket and slammed the Pakistan government for their earlier stance of boycotting the clash, questioning whether they were trying to showcase their petty side to India, and that the loss would have been entirely for Pakistan if they had gone ahead with their boycott. "If they did not want to play, they could have denied the entire tournament... This would have only harmed Pakistan financially, because if the ICC bans them or does not allow them to play cricket, would they be able to pay their players? It would not have affected us all. You should look at your own country. Why were their Prime Minister and Mohsin Naqvi getting too involved and saying that they would not play? India does not have any problems, we want to improve ourselves, instead of showcasing pettiness to others," he added. Squads: India Squad: Ishan Kishan(w), Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Abhishek Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar Pakistan Squad: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha(c), Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Khan(w), Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Salman Mirza, Khawaja Nafay. (ANI)
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