"People Say It Is The Greatest Rivalry": India Star On Matches vs Pakistan

India and Pakistan will be squaring off against one another in a Group A clash of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium. The fans are eagerly waiting for this contest and it would be interesting to see how Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma rally their troops around. Ahead of the game, Indian stars such as Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya spoke about the games against Pakistan and what can one expect.

"First game on 28th, we will try and be in present. Preparation wise, we have not been short. We are not looking at the opposition at all, what we need to achieve as a group is more important than the opposition we play. It is going to be a challenging one so we have to be up for it," said Rohit in a video uploaded on official website of BCCI.

Talking about the contest, Suryakumar Yadav said: "Obviously, when I was growing up, there was a lot of talk around the India-Pakistan games and people say it is the greatest rivalry. But when we go out to the field, it is just another game. When you enter the field, all our preparation and routine we do, reflects on the ground. I just try and stay in my zone when I enter the field."

Today two teams go one on one in a high octane clash of the #AsiaCup2022

Click below to watch #TeamIndia members speak about Battle Royale #INDvPAK

https://t.co/7s1ncpc2ZB #AsiaCup2022 pic.twitter.com/aomE2U7wxN

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 28, 2022

"It is a great opportunity for us to play 2-3 games, challenge ourselves. Pakistan have been a really good team over the past few years. They have played some excellent cricket, it is a high-pressure game and it will always be that," said India vice-captain KL Rahul.

Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya both said that the pressure is there around the game, but it is important to focus on the processes rather than the "outside noise".

"There is an interesting environment. The match is hyped up quite a bit. As a player, we try to give our 100 per cent. Pressure is there in India-Pakistan game, expectations also rise," said Pant. 

"Hype is there outside, a lot of people have emotions attached to the game and we all understand that. For us, we have to make sure that we keep the outside noise outside and we focus on things we really need to," said Hardik. 

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team Rohit Sharma KL Rahul Suryakumar Yadav Hardik Pandya Rishabh Pant Asia Cup, 2022 Cricket