Pakistan Mohammad Haris, the Men's T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup skipper, has revealed that his team is not allowed to discuss India in the dressing room.
On October 19, Pakistan Shaheens will face India A in the tournament's first match. The UAE and Oman are the other two teams in their group.
The 23-year-old Haris, who has previously played for the senior Pakistan team and appeared in six ODIs and nine T20Is, believes that focusing solely on the match against India adds more pressure on players.
"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 that we are not allowed to talk about India in the dressing room)," Haris said in a video that has gone viral on social media.
"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 and played in the last World Cup. It creates so much pressure that mentally you are thinking about India, India. We have to face other teams as well," he said.
"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.
India A will be captained by Tilak Varma, who has played four ODIs and 16 T20Is for the senior team. Abhishek Sharma has been named Varma’s deputy for the tournament.