T20 World Cup 2021: Shoaib Malik says 'big win' against India gave Pakistan huge momentum

Pakistan won three out of their three matches in T20 World Cup 2021.

By Ankitjit Singh - 02 Nov, 2021

Pakistani veteran Shoaib Malik said that the big win against Team India in their first match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 at Dubai gave the team immense momentum to do well in the tournament. 

Pakistan has been in red hot form in the T20 World Cup 2021 so far. After hammering India by 10 wickets in their first match they thumped the likes of New Zealand and Afghanistan.

With their upcoming matches against Scotland and Namibia, the Babar Azam-led side is also most likely to book their place in the semi-finals as they are leaving no stone unturned and have been at their destructive best, winning all three games in the tournament so far.

Shoaib Malik admitted that 10-wicket against India in their opening match of the tournament gave them the momentum to do well in the ICC event. 

Read Also: "Defeat to Pakistan certainly demoralized the Indian team," says Sunil Gavaskar

"To be honest, of course when you start your tournament and you start your tournament against a big team and then you win that game, then everything comes in your dressing room. 

“And I guess momentum and everything has come to us when we played that game. Obviously, when you start the tournament, the goal is to give your best shot as a team,” Shoaib Malik said at the pre-match press conference. 

Malik said that Pakistan winning matches consistently is the biggest thing for him as every player in the dressing room is helping each other and are getting the desired support from the team management.  

"To see consistency in Pakistan dressing room, that's the biggest thing for me so far, and everyone's helping each other. And it's a team game. When you're playing a team game, then you need your teammates' help, you need a lot of support from your management. And I see all of that coming,” Shoaib Malik said. 

Malik said that they are fully confident about the game against Namibia. He also talked about bubble life, saying that it’s a tough thing to be in but having families along with them is a good thing as they spend a lot of time together. 

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"We are fully confident and in fact leaving soon for our practice session. So looking forward for the game. Well, to be honest, bubble life, it's a tough thing, especially when you're like playing a lot of back-to-back series. 

“But the good thing is that our families are with us. We've been spending a lot of time together as families, as teammates. So it's a good thing,” he said. 

Shoaib Malik suggested that his team is focused on winning the T20 World Cup and ready to do the hard yards for it.

"But when your goal is to achieve something in life, then you have to go through hard yards, and we have that in our mind. And we are only focused for this particular tournament. And some have started enjoying the bubble life as well,” he concluded. 

Pakistan will take on Namibia today (2nd November) at Abu Dhabi and a win today will likely seal them a spot in the semi-finals. 

(PTI inputs) 

By Ankitjit Singh - 02 Nov, 2021

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