Team India’s record in the ICC events has been quite underwhelming in the last 10 years. After MS Dhoni led the side to a Champions Trophy triumph in 2013, India have lost as many as four ICC tournament finals and bowed out in the semi-finals on numerous occasions.
With the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 around the corner, many feel that the Rohit Sharma-led team has a great opportunity to end the global title drought in home conditions.
The 50-over World Cup, featuring 10 teams, is slated to be held in India from October 5 to November 19. Before that, the Men in Blue will be put to the test in the Asia Cup 2023, which got underway on Wednesday (August 30).
Meanwhile, former Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has said that India need to find a way to handle pressure in the knockout stages.
“India is a very good team, but they are not the best yet. We have seen in the recent past that they could not handle the pressure of knockout stages in the ICC events and a few other big-ticket events. Bilaterally, they are doing well, but I think India needs to find a way to handle the pressure in the knockout stages as a team. They are very good, but they are not a complete team yet,” Hafeez told Sportstar in an exclusive interaction.
“With Bumrah coming in, let’s see what kind of impact he has on the whole tournament. We have to obviously monitor his fitness, but if Bumrah remains lethal, obviously India can turn things around. But then again, India hasn’t done well lately in the knockouts of ICC events and they need to work on that,” he added.
India will open their Asia Cup 2023 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Pallekele on September 2.
Commenting on the marquee clash, Hafeez said whoever can handle the mental aspects well will have the edge.
“The biggest ingredient to deal with these matches is basically your mental strength because it’s basically your mental state that helps you a lot to do well in these high-voltage India vs Pakistan games,” Hafeez stated.
“With so much social media presence, it has added a lot of pressure on the players. The hype of the tournament goes sky-high and even before the tournament, the players have to deal with a lot of pressure due to social media engagements. The expectations of the people from both the countries have gone too high and none of the fans want their team to be on the losing side,” he further said.
“Even though it’s a game of cricket, mental toughness plays a major role in executing your skills in an India vs Pakistan encounter. Players are getting mentally tougher, but my experience is that when you play against India, you need to control your emotions and be wary of distractions. Mental health is very important for such a key game,” he remarked.
The former Pakistan captain also shared important advice for the players of both teams.
“Once you take care of your mind and handle the distractions and stop doubting yourself, you can execute your skills well. Players from both teams know that you have to handle several other things apart from just skills. Whoever controls the emotions and handles the mental condition better can turn things around. In the last few games, I have seen quite a few good performances from different players, but I must say that mental health is the key.”
(With Sportstar Inputs)
