T20 World Cup: We are ready to face India: Pakistan pacer Salman

Pakistan's cricket team is preparing for the T20 World Cup, including a potential match against India, pending government approval.

Pakistan pacer Salman Mirza said that the team is preparing for the entire T20 World Cup and will play against arch-rivals India on Sunday, February 15, in Colombo if they get the go-ahead from the Pakistan government.

While addressing a press conference ahead of Pakistan's match against the USA on Tuesday, Mirza was asked if the players had any discussions within the group regarding the match against India.

"We are preparing for the entire T20 World Cup. We will play accordingly to the team we have to play. It will be the decision of the government. We will do whatever is told to us," the 32-year-old said.

However the focus for the time being is on USA, who beat them in the last edition.

"We are focused on the coming match and we are focusing on the match one-to-one, whichever is coming up. And about the match on the 15th (February 15 match against India), that is the decision of the government, whatever they decide we will play accordingly."

PCB Seeks Approval for India Match

Pakistan has agreed to play India in the Twenty20 cricket World Cup match scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka on Sunday, Pakistan's government said on Monday, reversing its decision to boycott the game.

In the T20 World Cup two years ago, USA, then co-hosts, had notched a famous upset win via Super Over against Pakistan in Dallas.

Asked about that defeat, Mirza said, "This happens often in cricket. It is a past and we can only learn from it. Our focus is on the next match. The group is preparing well and we will be focused on that.

"All matches are important. I don't think any team is weak or strong in T20 cricket. The team that plays good cricket on the given day will be good. Pakistan always tries to play good cricket and we will try to do the same in all the matches."

He said USA's bowling was impressive in their previous game against India, though they lost by 29 runs.

"They (USA) have bowled brilliant in the last game but I think we have strong batting line-up to tackle that bowling line-up and hopefully we'll play that good cricket and do the best."

Pakistan's Recent Performance And Mindset

Pakistan suffered a mighty scare against the Netherlands before pulling off a three-wicket win in the T20 World Cup opener on Friday.

All-rounder Faheem Ashraf emerged as the hero for Pakistan, hammering 29 off 11 balls in a stunning late assault to snatch a dramatic win.

"It's the T20 World Cup and all the matches are important, whether is the first, second or final. If you are following the T20 World Cup, you must have seen that almost all the games so far have been close. This is the beauty of cricket. Close games are a must.

"(However close the game is) the main objective is to win the game. And Pakistan has won and we will try to win the next matches as well," Mirza said.

Pakistan's Narrow Escape Against Netherlands

When told that fans back home were disappointed at the way the team escaped from a defeat, he said, "When you play a match, a lot of things are like an eye opener. We will try not to make the same mistakes as we did in the first match. We will learn from it and play good cricket.

"Even though we have won 3-0 (against Australia ahead of the T20 World Cup), it gives you confidence. But it is a World Cup game and it keeps changing. Sometimes your game plans change because of the pitch, sometimes the opponent team plays well."

Asked if Pakistan team is psychologically ready for the match against USA, he replied, "Pakistan is ready for every challenge. We can learn from the past. We can't stick to the past. We can learn from the past but we have to improve our next games.

"T20 is such a format in which the difference between small and big teams is not much. Because if a team does a good spell or innings, it makes a big difference in the match. You have seen this in front of you, the way the matches are being played. And this statement justifies it that there is no small or big team. The one who plays good cricket will win."