As the ICC T20 World Cup approaches, former Indian all-rounder Madan Lal expressed on Saturday that the upcoming match between India and Pakistan is no longer the 'most important' fixture, emphasizing that the tournament final holds greater weight.

The eagerly awaited match is scheduled for Sunday in Colombo, following the Pakistan government's decision to lift its earlier boycott after discussions with the International Cricket Council (ICC). In an interview, Madan Lal noted that while the India-Pakistan rivalry attracts significant viewership and emotional responses, the primary focus should be on winning the tournament.

"The final match is the most crucial, not the India vs Pakistan game. It used to be a vital encounter, but now it’s just another game to win. Although it garners high viewership, our relationship with Pakistan has been strained since 1947, making it a more charged match. We treat it as a game and refrain from abusive behavior towards our players, unlike Pakistan, which tends to take it too personally," he stated.

Madan Lal Critiques Pakistan's Initial Boycott Decision

Madan Lal warned that predicting a favorite in T20 cricket is challenging and criticized the Pakistan government's previous boycott stance, questioning if they were attempting to display pettiness towards India. He remarked that if they had proceeded with the boycott, it would have been a loss solely for Pakistan.

"If they were unwilling to play, they could have opted out of the entire tournament. This would have only harmed Pakistan financially. If the ICC were to ban them or prevent them from playing cricket, how would they compensate their players? It wouldn’t have impacted us. They should focus on their own country. Why were their Prime Minister and Mohsin Naqvi so involved in declaring they wouldn’t play? India has no issues; we aim to improve ourselves rather than exhibit 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.