India are looking forward to their clash with rivals Pakistan in Colombo after the Pakistan government decided to play the blockbuster T20 World Cup match.

Late on Monday, the Pakistan government ended a week-long stand-off by rescinding its order for the cricket team to boycott the 15 February match.

“It’s great that the game is back on, we kind of never changed the preparation,” said India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate.

India will face a second Group A match against Namibia on Thursday in New Delhi before flying to Sri Lanka.

It means a quick turnaround for Sunday’s match, the biggest and most lucrative clash in world cricket.

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“It’s going to be a challenge going to Colombo where Pakistan have been for the last two weeks,” added Ten Doeschate.

“We are delighted to have another chance to play against a quality side in the first phase of the tournament.

“We are fully focused on just bringing our best game to that fixture.”

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Former India cricketer Madan Lal told AFP on Tuesday that Pakistan’s decision to go ahead with the match was “good for cricket”.

“We want strong teams to play so that the charm of the World Cup is not lost,” he added.

Sri Lanka, who will host the match which generates multi-millions of dollars in advertising, broadcast rights, sponsorship and tourism, also praised the decision.

Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in a social media post, thanked Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif for “ensuring the game we all love goes on”.

Veteran Indian journalist Pradeep Magazine told AFP “good sense has prevailed on all sides”.

Financial considerations would have been taken into account, he added.

“Everyone realised that losing the revenue from an India-Pakistan match would have been a loss-loss situation for all ICC member nations.”

– AFP

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