Pakistan's wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan spoke on the much-awaited India and Pakistan clash in the 2021 T20 World Cup. The arch-rivals only take on each other in ICC events, Asia Cup and they haven't played a bilateral series since 2012.
Rizwan said they aren't much hyped about the match like fans on social media and the team will consider it like any other game. India and Pakistan are set to lock-horns on October 24 in Dubai, which will be their opening match of the mega ICC tournament.
"This India-Pakistan match, we will consider it like any other game. The hype is being created by social media and fans which is fine but in our hearts and minds, we will consider this game the same as the one against any other side. Because, if we as players take on the additional pressure of this game, then that won’t be good as it has happened before," he said in a virtual press conference, as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan made changes in their T20 World Cup squad on October 8. They announced the addition of Haider Ali, Fakhar Zaman, and Sarfaraz Ahmed to their 15-member squad for the tournament.
Rizwan feels the changes to their squad won't affect them psychologically as such situations have become the new normal. He also said that no team will have an advantage going into the tournament, and not even Pakistan despite playing a lot of cricket in UAE.
"I have never been a believer in the fact that any one side, including Pakistan, has any special advantage in UAE or anywhere else," he said. "All we can say is that the tournament is being held in Asia as I consider UAE to be in Asia.
"Yes, we have been playing there for a while and we used to say that UAE is our home ground but I never accepted that because the pitches there, from what I understood, were made with soil from Australia or from other parts of the world," he added. "So, even if UAE was called our home ground, that was not the case."
(With Cricket Pakistan Inputs)
