With the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 going on, cricket supporters from all around the world are highly anticipating the high-stakes clash which is going to take place between arch-rivals India and Pakistan on June 09 in New York. The rivalry is significant and is watched by millions and millions of people all over the world.
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Among all the hype, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has tried to ask his men to stay focused and not be swayed by the overexcitement about the match. Talking to the PCB podcast, Azam said: “India-Pakistan match is always talked about. It is discussed too much. Every place you will go in the world. Players get different vibes and excitement. What will happen is that everyone supports their country, so the focus is on that match,” said Azam.
He further emphasized the importance of his team focusing on the basics and keeping their wits about them during the match. “The whole world is focused on the day the India-Pakistan match is held. Naturally, we would feel nerves, but we’ve [got] to hold on to our nerves, stick to the basics, and play easy cricket. It is always a pressure game; the more you keep cool and calm and believe in your skills and hard work, the more things get easier,” Azam explained.
Says Azam: Given our past experiences, one cannot underestimate the importance of holding our nerve. He talked about tight matches in 2022, especially the last one when they consoled India and Zimbabwe from a winning position. “We could and should have won the India game, for me, in 2022… but they took it away. The most hurtful was the defeat against Zimbabwe. It hurts more because we had played good cricket against India, and people praised our performance and fight back,” he said.
But Pakistan, despite this and some other misfortunes during the tournament, reached the finals of 2022—also due to some help the Netherlands offered by shockingly defeating South Africa. But in the end, they lost to England in the final, mainly because Shaheen injured himself heavily. “In the final, Shaheen’s injury hurt us because, at that time, the pressure was on them (England). We had to give an over to a spinner, and that made the difference,” Azam remembered.
As Pakistan readies itself on June 06 to kickstart its T20 World Cup campaign against co-host USA, Azam’s motivation is not just regarding individual feats. “I have done all right as a batter and as a captain and have managed to win a couple of series, but the driving force is to get my hands on an ICC trophy. Right there you go in a completely different league and receive that accolade, so the hunger, ambition, and dream is still to get hold of an ICC trophy and bring it back to Pakistan,” he concluded.
The cricketing world now looks forward to a much-awaited match-up and expects the game to live literally by its legendary rivalry and myth to forge an exciting contest.
