Ace Pakistani speedster Shaheen Afridi said that his team should stop thinking and concentrating on their upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 encounter against Pakistan and instead think about the other matches as well.
The marquee India vs Pakistan clash in the CWC 2023 will take place on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the largest cricket stadium in the world. This will be the first time Pakistan will come to India for cricket since the T20 World Cup 2016.
Though Pakistan didn’t want to play India in Ahmedabad and also wanted a couple of other venues for their matches switched, the PCB could only get the ICC and BCCI to make sure that if Pakistan reached the semi-final, their match will be played in Kolkata, even if it’s against India.
India has never lost to Pakistan in the ODI World Cup. The 2019 50-over World Cup clash between India and Pakistan drew 273 million viewers and this time also all the focus seems to be on this pivotal clash.
Speaking on the same, Shaheen Afridi wants his team to focus on the tournament as a whole and not just on the clash against India.
CWC 2023: “India vs Pakistan is not be all and end all of ODI World Cup”- PCB director Mickey Arthur
"We should stop thinking and concentrating on just India versus Pakistan match because that's just one game. We need to focus our thoughts on how to win the World Cup, and as a team, this will be our aim," Afridi was quoted as saying in a report by Cricket Pakistan.
He will also make his Test return for Pakistan to play two Tests in Sri Lanka in July -- his first outing in the long form of the game in a year. Afridi, who has 99 wickets in 25 Tests, featured in the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia last year, but injured the same knee in the final.
Afridi is back to full fitness, however, and played in the Pakistan Super League as well as featuring in the T20I and ODI series against New Zealand earlier this year.
"I am very excited to be returning to the Pakistan Test side after a year. I dearly missed Test cricket and it was tough for me to be away from this format. I am eager to make an impactful comeback,” Afridi added.
(Times of India inputs)
