‘Don’t think we have ever discussed the India-Pakan issues amongst ourselves’: USA’s Saurabh Netravalkar ahead of T20 World Cup | Cricket News
3 min readUpdated: Feb 6, 2026 06:50 PM With a lot of political tensions permeating between India and Pakan, USA’s Saurabh Netravalkar was asked if that has an impact on their team which conss of a mix of both Indian and Pakan origin players. The player, however, said that they only think of playing for the USA and have never discussed the geopolitical issues related to India and Pakan.
“Yes we have players from all parts of the world. We gel and bond together because of our love for the game. And no I don’t think we have ever discussed the India -Pakan issues amongst ourselves. I don’t think so at least. We are all proud to play for USA..,” Netravalkar said a day ahead of USA’s T20 World Cup opener vs India in Wankhede on Saturday.
The India vs Pakan ties have worsened in recent years with the two captains India’s Suryakumar Yadav and Pakan’s Salman Agha forgoing handshakes with each other in the three Asia Cup matches they played last year.
This year, the T20 World Cup match between the two rivals are in jeopardy as the Pakan government said that the team will boycott their World Cup match vs India in Sri Lanka on February 15 as a protest against Bangladesh’s ouster from the tournament following their refusal to travel to India citing security concerns.
The cloud of uncertainty around the India vs Pakan fixture next week has also had a dominos effect in Sri Lanka, where hotels are facing cancellations. With thousands expected to land in Colombo, the tourism industry has been eagerly awaiting the fixture, but it has left a bad taste in their mouth. In the past Sri Lanka have played a huge role in international cricket returning to Pakan and on Friday, Salman Agha said they have three matches to give their best. Pakan play their first match of the T20 World Cup on Saturday against the Netherlands in Sri Lanka.
“They have supported us before. But, Sri Lanka has three games. In the past their fans have turned up in numbers to support and this time also they can come and watch us play and we will entertain them,” Agha said.
