Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Saturday (October 23) said that he is banking on his bowling attack to make history against India when they meet in the high-octane clash of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 on Sunday, October 24, at Dubai International Stadium, in Dubai.
Pakistan has never won even a single match against India in either the ODI World Cup or T20 World Cup, but Babar sounded confident about the Men in Green’s chances against Team India this time around, having a quality and experienced bowling attack and squad for the much-awaited encounter in Dubai.
The skipper also revealed that they have shortlisted their squad for the big clash against India and are confident to deliver their best in their tournament opener on Sunday in Dubai.
Babar said during a pre-match press conference: “Every team has their own strength, our bowling has always been dominant. When you want to win a big tournament, the onus is on the bowlers to perform well, our bowlers are in good shape. They have experience of playing big tournaments like the Champions Trophy, World Cup. I am always focused on keeping things simple, I try to stick by my game and I just want to take it ball by ball.”
He continued, “Our preparation is going well, we got good confidence by playing the warm-up games, we will try to give our best on the day. We have decided on the 12 players that have been shortlisted for the game, we will name the eleven tomorrow.
It is about staying relaxed, we are in constant touch with all the players. It is about playing well on the day. We have played a lot of cricket here, we know the conditions and we know how to go about it. We have gone for the players that we felt would be the best for the clash against India.”
On being asked whether Prime Minister and former captain Imran Khan gave a special message for the team, Babar said: “We met PM Imran Khan before coming here, he shared anecdotes from the 1992 WC triumph, but he gave no special message to us.”
Speaking about Pakistan’s poor record against India at World Cups over the years, the star batter noted: “It is about keeping things simple, we need to focus on the basics. We just want to give our best. We should not think about the past, records are made to be broken, we’re just focused on what lies ahead.”
He signed off by saying, “It is a World Cup, you cannot take any game lightly. India Pakistan matches are always full of high intensity, you cannot be relaxed at any point. You have to do well in all three basics of the game -- batting, bowling, and fielding. It is not like our bowling is under pressure, we tried different things in the warm-up games. I have full confidence in my team.”
(With ANI Inputs)
