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A day after Pakistan batter Fakhar Zaman was issued a show cause notice by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for criticising selection committee's decision to drop Babar Azam from Test squad, Pakistan A captain Mohammad Haris has made a strange confession. Haris who will lead Pakistan in upcoming Emerging Asia Cup T20 tournament has said that the players have been banned from talking about the Indian team in the dressing room.
Reigning champions Pakistan Shaheens will face Tilak Varma-led India in their tournament opener on October 19.
"Aapko ek baat batau. Pehli dafa hoga ke iss dressing room mei Bharat par baat karne pe pabandi hai [I will tell you one thing; it's the first time ever that we are not allowed to talk about India in the dressing room]," Haris said in a video that has been making rounds on social media.
Haris who led Pakistan to win in the One-Day format of Emerging Asia Cup last year said that talking about the high-voltage India game creates unnecessary pressure. He admitted facing it while playing for the senior side.
"We don't have to think [only] about India, we have to think about other teams as well. I have been in the [senior] Pakistan team, played the last World Cup as well. It creates so much pressure that mentally, you are thinking about India, India. We have to face other teams as well," said the 23-year-old.
"So this team is currently banned [from talking about India]. We have not talked about India so far in the dressing room. Not just India, we have to respect other teams as well," he added.
The last time Pakistan played India in Emerging Asia Cup was in the final of the previous edition. Pakistan A won by 128 runs at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo against Yash Dhull-led side.
India A squad:
Tilak Varma (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Ramandeep Singh, Anuj Rawat, Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Anshul Kamboj, Hrithik Shokeen, Aaqib Khan, Vaibhav Arora, Rasikh Salam, Sai Kishore, Rahul Chahar
Pakistan A squad:
Mohammad Haris (captain), Abdul Samad, Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Omair Bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sufiyan Moqim, Yasir Khan and Zaman Khan
