USA leg-spinner Mohammad Mohsin said on Monday that “the pressure will be on Pakistan” when the teams lock horns in the T20 World Cup again, two years after the Americans inflicted a shock defeat on the former champions.

But Pakistan quick bowler Salman Mirza insisted the stunning super over defeat in Dallas in the 2024 T20 World Cup would be firmly “in the past” when the two clash in Colombo on Tuesday.

The USA team gave tournament favourites India a big scare in their opening match in Mumbai, reducing them to 77-6 at one point, with Mohsin taking a wicket on his T20 World Cup debut, before losing by 29 runs.

They are confident they can repeat their stunning upset of two years ago in the Group A encounter.

“The pressure of losing the last game will be on Pakistan,” said Mohsin.

Born and brought up playing cricket in Pakistan, Mohsin migrated to the US five years ago and warned that the USA was a better team now than two years ago.

“I have played with most of the players in this Pakistan team, so I have given my input to the team and we are a more skilled and confident team.”

Mirza was confident the last defeat would not prey on the Pakistan players’ minds.

“Winning and losing are part of the game; it happens in cricket,” Mirza said. “The defeat against the USA is now past and behind us.”

Pakistan, the 2009 champions, were close to suffering another shock in their opening match against the Netherlands on Saturday.

Pakistan were staring at defeat with 29 runs needed in the last two overs but all-rounder Faheem Ashraf’s big hitting bailed them out.

Pakistan cannot afford any slip-ups if they are to qualify for the super eight stage as one of the top two teams in Group A after saying they would not play India on February 15.

Defeat to the USA two years ago saw them fail to get out of the group.

Mirza admitted the smaller teams were dangerous opponents.

“Until now, all the matches are close and no team is small or big in this format,” said Mirza, who took 3-24 against the Netherlands.

Pakistan may bring back experienced batsman Fakhar Zaman to replace Babar Azam, who has been criticised for slow scoring.

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Zimbabwe returned to the T20 World Cup in emphatic fashion on Monday, strolling to an eight-wicket win over Oman at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club.

In their first T20 World Cup since 2022, Zimbabwe skittled Oman for 103 before knocking off the runs with 39 balls to spare.

Brian Bennett was unbeaten on 48 and Brendan Taylor, 40, who played in the first T20 World Cup in 2007, made 31 before retiring hurt.

Zimbabwe’s quick bowling twin towers Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani did the early damage, reducing Oman to 27-5 with none of their top order managing to get into double figures.

“We have to take it game by game and we are very happy with the win,” said Muzarabani, who won the player-of-the-match award.

“I am just coming from a back injury and didn’t want to really push it, so I shortened my run a bit. There was some good bounce on the pitch and I thought we used the conditions well.”

A face-saving 42-run stand for the sixth wicket between Sufyan Mehmood and Vinayak Shukla gave Oman’s total some respectability.

Ngarava finished with 3-17 and Muzarabani 3-16. Brad Evans provided the perfect first-change foil, hitting a nagging line and length to take 3-18.

Shukla top-scored for Oman with 28 and Mehmood got 25.

When the chase started, Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani raced to 30 off 19 deliveries before two wickets brought Taylor to the crease.

The veteran showed some discomfort running between the wickets and retired hurt with victory four runs away, leaving skipper Sikandar Raza to finish the job with a boundary.

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Pakistan Super League franchise (PSL) Multan Sultans on Monday was sold to Walee Technologies for a record Rs2.45 billion ahead of the tournament’s 11th edition.

At the auction in Lahore, show host Fakhr-i-Alam informed bidders that the winning bid would also cover the annual fee to maintain ownership of the team for the next 10 years.

Speaking at the auction ceremony, the new owner of the team announced that they would be changing the name to Rawalpindi.

“Are you ready for a surprise? We will be going for Rawalpindi!” announced the company’s chief executive officer, Ahsan Tahir.

Speaking at the ceremony, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi congratulated Walee Technologies on their successful bid and expressed gratitude to former board chairman Najam Sethi for his vision for the Multan Sultans franchise.

“This Multan Sultans was created by Najam Sethi sahib and the person who started this journey; we are so pleased he is with us today,” Naqvi said, inviting Sethi onto the stage.

In his remarks, Sethi said, “I’m obviously delighted to be here; this is the culmination of a dream come true.

“I’m obviously over the moon that it’s come through under Mohsin Naqvi, who is a dear, dear friend of mine,” he said.

Sethi hailed the winning bid as a “great moment for Pakistan cricket”, adding that Naqvi would give good news “beyond PSL” over the coming days.

Later, at a press conference with representatives from Walee Technologies, Naqvi said that the future of the Multan Sultans brand would have to be considered.

“I cannot ask the person paying Rs2.45bn to keep the name Multan Sultans,” he said.

“When we discussed auctioning Multan Sultans, we planned to keep it for one or two years. But there was a good environment in the market and we were already auctioning five or six teams,” he said.

The PCB chief noted that there were concerns, given the brand’s age and the possibility of damage to its reputation.

“For me, Multan Sultans is very close to my heart, so we will come up with a solution,” Naqvi said.

When asked about the criteria for setting the opening bid at Rs1.82bn, he replied that it was the second-highest bid for the Sialkot team, which was sold for Rs1.85bn.

To a question about ongoing meetings with a delegation from the International Cricket Council (ICC) over Pakistan’s boycott of the match with India in the T20 World Cup, Naqvi replied, “The issue was Bangladesh’s. We did not want to let their point of view go; they are our brothers and you saw the situation.

“Things are happening, which is why I won’t say much, but the ICC and the Bangladesh board are in that phase where if I say anything, it won’t be right. We’ll update you once we receive information,” the PCB chief said.

Naqvi said that “guests need to be respected” when asked about the attitude of the visiting ICC delegation.

Walee Technologies is a global company specialising in projects in the media, finance and technology sectors, according to their website, which added that the company had also earlier acquired PSL livestreaming rights.

The franchise, started in 2017 under the name Multan Sultans, competed in eight consecutive editions of the PSL, winning the league in 2021.

Last November, the franchise was left ownerless after the PCB did not extend a renewal offer to owner Ali Khan Tareen. The PCB then announced it would take over the franchise for the upcoming tournament.

Bids were invited on January 14 and their technical evaluation was completed by February 3.

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