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New Delhi: 1983-World Cup winning skipper Kapil Dev has urged the Indian players to remain focussed on the Asia Cup match against arch-rivals Pakistan. The Asian rivals lock horns against each other in the Group A clash on September 14, Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium. Kapil said that the players should focus on playing and not get distracted by the external factors ahead of the high-profile clash.
Additionally, the veteran player also said that the government will do its job and the players should focus on doing theirs. This comes after the Indian cricket board and the team was slammed for agreeing to play against neighbours Pakistan, with whom they have a history of strained socio-political relations. The recent attack on Indian nationals in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam where 26 innocent people were killed by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists had added recent fuel to the fire.
India retaliated by launching Operation Sindoor where they destroyed the terror launchpads in Pakistan and PoK. Rivals India and Pakistan are set to face off in Dubai for the first time since Operation Sindoor, which was launched by India after 26 tourists were killed in a terror attack in Pahalgam in April this year.
'The Indian players should stay focused solely on the game. They have a good team and must win,' Kapil told. 'Players should concentrate only on their performance and not get distracted by anything else. Just go and win. The government will do its job, and the players should do theirs,' the 66-year-old added.
After the Pahalgam attack, the Indian government formulated a policy under which the country would not have any bilateral sporting ties with Pakistan but won't stop the Indian teams from competing against the neighbours in multilateral events.
India, the reigning world champions in the T20 format, began their campaign with an emphatic nine-wicket win over UAE on Wednesday. India next play Pakistan on Sunday.
