Pakistan have had an underwhelming World Cup 2023 campaign so far. The Men in Green started the tournament with back-to-back wins over Netherlands and Sri Lanka before going down against India and Australia.

Occupying the fifth spot on the points table, Pakistan will lock horns against Afghanistan in Chennai on Monday (October 23).

On the eve of the match, Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq addressed a press conference, where he defended his team's disappointing performances in the bowling department.

"See if you see here all matches are very high scoring. It is not that it is only against our team. If you look at the other teams also, they are scoring 350 - 360, like yesterday there was a score of 400 (between England and South Africa - so it is not that only our bowlers are being beaten," Imam told reporters.

"The grounds here are small, the wickets are good, and when the batsmen are set, the margin for the bowlers is very low."

"This is not an excuse, but the conditions are such. And it is true that sometimes, there are ups and downs for the bowlers but Shaheen, like in the last match, I thought they would score 420 or 430, but our spinners and end bowlers performed very well and controlled them at 360. So, in patches, our bowlers have done very well, and Shaheen did very well. So, these are a few positives and during the day you only look at the positives, we try to ignore the negatives because it is very important - we have back-to-back matches in this tournament. On the day we are bowling well - we have to back this," he explained.

Despite two big defeats, Imam said there is a positive spirit in the Pakistan camp and they are confident of bouncing back.

"We always have a feeling of positivity in our camp, and we have backed everyone. Our players know that we have the ability to win the match on the day."

On strategies and playing XI changes for the Afghanistan match, Imam said that skipper Babar Azam will take a call on the team combination.

"And it is just that, yes, we lost two matches. But as a team, this is how it is. We are professional cricketers. And we know that, you know, Pakistan is a team, who always comes back and we have the ability. We know that it is just a giving on the day how you perform and we are really looking forward to it for tomorrow," he remarked.

The southpaw gave a rather bizarre answer when asked about the team not hitting any sixes at all during the powerplay in 2023.

"Maybe we want to eat more proteins and not that much carbs, but it is just that there is nothing we want to talk about. It is just we really do not feel it if we are not hitting six or not four, it is just that what are we doing for the team? And if we are winning matches - unfortunately last two matches we did not play well and we accept it, but it is just that we have still five matches then we will go to the semi-final but it is just how you play how you prepare and that is really matters," Imam said.

The left-hander sounded confident of tackling the Afghanistan spinners on a spin-friendly Chepauk track.

"In the end, you have to play the ball. You do not have to play the bowler. So, it is just that you have to back your ability," he concluded.

(With ANI Inputs)