India and Pakistan will square-off on October 23 in Melbourne.
On Friday (October 14), Pakistan's all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz said his team will try to avoid getting caught up in the hype of their high-octane opening match against India in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022.
In what is dubbed cricket’s greatest rivalry, Pakistan will take on Team India at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on October 23. MCG is anticipated to be packed to the hilt with fans of both teams.
Treating their clash against India just like any other game, according to Nawaz, will only help them perform better. He added that the Tri-series win in New Zealand has given the players a lot of confidence ahead of the marquee event.
"I think the way we have been playing, especially against India and even before, we have played really good cricket. Then later on against England we had a few crunch matches and even the series that we won here, should give a lot of confidence to all the players.
"Our preparations are complete now and hopefully we will just take it as another match (against India) and not think too much about playing India. We just need to prepare well and just try to execute it out in the middle and play the game," Nawaz told the press after Pakistan won the T20I tri-series final against New Zealand in Christchurch.
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On Friday, the Men in Green thrashed hosts New Zealand by 5 wickets in the finals of the T20I Tri-series. Nawaz’s stunning all-round performance, taking the crucial wicket of Glenn Phillips and smashing 38* off just 22 balls with the bat was pivotal in taking his team over the line while chasing a tricky target of 164.
The 28-year-old has been in sensational touch with the bat. In the Tri-series, he amassed 107 runs in 5 games striking at almost 160.
The southpaw highlighted his batting form and expressed his desire to live up to his team's expectations while also describing how he transformed into a middle-order power hitter.
"I think against India it is always a big match, high-pressure match, and whenever you perform well in those then rest of the matches become a bit easy for you, as compared to the India game. But I think this journey started even earlier than that.
"The team's expectations for me is that I perform both in bowling and batting and so, I focus on both of those. Anyway, in today's cricket the demand is that you have to be a three-dimensional player," he added.
(INDIA TODAY INPUTS)