Pakistan captain Babar Azam faced the reporters on the eve of the Men in Green’s departure to India for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023. Pakistani contingent received their visas just a day ago and will travel to India via Dubai.
Pakistan will play their first match in the World Cup 2023 on October 6 against the Netherlands in Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. Before that, Pakistan will play New Zealand in the first of the two warmup games on September 28, also in Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Babar Azam talked about most of its players playing in India for the first time.
“All of us are proud of traveling for the World Cup. Although we have not played in India before, we are not taking too much pressure. We have done our research and we have heard the conditions are similar to how they play out in other Asian countries. It is quite an honor for me to travel as the captain this time around, I hope we come back with a trophy this time,” Babar was quoted by PCB.com.pk.
He also spoke about his personal goals for the World Cup and said that he is excited to play in Ahmedabad against India. The match will be played on October 14, a day before Babar celebrates his birthday.
“I am excited to play in Ahmedabad as it will be jam-packed. I will try my best to perform up to my potential. I am not worried about my accolades, I want to make sure whatever I do helps the result for the team. I prepare according to [the teams I have to face] and make goals for myself. I try to set targets for myself and then I give my 100% on the ground. The rest I leave up to God, as the results are in His hand,” he said.
He further added: “Unfortunately, we will be missing the fans. However, as far as I know, the games are all sold out so we will be playing in jam-packed stadiums. Although our fans will not be there, I know they will make sure their love is heard on social media. I have heard that the fans in India also show their love, although I have not experienced that as of yet but I am excited to play in India as well.”
He also commented on missing Naseem Shah for the World Cup 2023. Shah suffered a shoulder injury and is likely to undergo surgery to rectify the issue.
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“Of course, we will miss Naseem Shah as Shaheen [Afridi] and Naseem bowling together gave us a different edge. It was not easy to pick his replacement, but we all sat together and got input from [chief selector] Inzamam ul Haq. We went with Hasan Ali because he has experience. He has played in the World Cup before. I cannot comment on who will bowl the new ball or the old ball, as we cannot reveal our strategies right now. But we have not made any concrete plans right now, it will become more clear to us when we travel to India and assess the conditions,” he said.
He also said that players gelled well in the dressing room.
“There is no ill will in the dressing room. There are discussions after every loss but they get twisted into something else entirely. The entire team is like a family and there is love and respect there,” Babar added.
He was asked about distractions hampering the Pakistan team’s performance ahead of the World Cup.
He said: “We try our best to block out the noise and play with our 100% attention. I try to make sure that the noise does not get to the team and I handle them all outside of the [dressing room]. The visas are here, as far as I know, so we should be good to go. As far as the contracts are concerned, they are still being negotiated, but we are hopeful they will work out as the PCB always has our interests at heart.”
(pcb.com.pk inputs)
