Pakistan and India are due to square off in the ODI World Cup 2023 on October 14 in Ahmedabad.
With less than two months remaining for the World Cup, Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan opened up on his team’s mental preparation, strategy, and outlook for the showpiece tournament.
The Men in Green are scheduled to open their campaign against the Netherlands at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on October 6.
Speaking to a local cricket analyst, Shadab highlighted the significance of winning the World Cup on Indian soil.
"Winning the World Cup in India will be like the icing on the cake... Definitely, whichever team comes will come to win the tournament, but the key is how you as a team play and how you start because we will have to play against every team; it's a great opportunity for all the teams," Shadab Khan stated.
When asked about the challenges of not having crowd support in India, the leg-spinner replied: "We won't have the crowd support in India. In that sense we'll have to be very strong mentally. The way our players are, mentally strong, I think we'll have a good tournament."
Pakistan’s high-voltage clash against India is scheduled to take place on October 14 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The last time Pakistan and India clashed at the T20 World Cup 2022, star batter Virat Kohli proved to be a nightmare for the Pakistani bowlers.
Chasing 160 to win, the Men in Blue were in dire straits at 31/4 after 6.1 overs. Amid the pressure situation, Kohli rose to the occasion as he smashed 82* off 53 balls and shared a 113-run stand with Hardik Pandya (40 off 37 balls) to script India’s nail-biting four-wicket victory.
Talking about their strategy against prominent players like Kohli, Shadab Khan mentioned that there are no special plans for specific batters.
“There are no specific plans for Virat Kohli. Everyone makes similar plans for opposition batters, which is to bowl in the right areas and hope for the batsman to commit a mistake,” he concluded.
(cricketpakistan.com inputs)