The Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Pakistan is one of the most anticipated cricket clashes in the recent past and considering the rarity of the games between the two teams, there is considerable pressure on both sides to come up with a good showing. However, Pakistan cricket team skipper Babar Azam said on Friday that the pressure of providing tickets for the high-profile match is far greater than the match itself. Both teams head to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad with a perfect record in this year's competition and the rivalry is expected to produce a competitive clash.
"There is more pressure for match tickets than match," Babar said in the pre-match press conference.
"It is not a pressure match for us. We have played each other a lot of times. We got a lot of support in Hyderabad and we hope the same for Ahmedabad. What matters is what we can do best as a team in both batting and bowling. In these conditions the margin of error for bowlers is minimal."
"Experience helps you play better when I was a youngster I used to get nervous but there are seniors who help you out," he added.
Pakistan have never defeated India in the ODI World Cup but the past does not bother Babar and he insisted that the team needs to "live in the present".
"I think what has happened in the past is not important. We want to live in present. I think we can do well. India-Pakistan match is high-intensity. Believe in ourselves. There are a lot of fans coming. I think we have an opportunity to do well in front of fans," he further stated.
"We plan accordingly as in the first 10 overs the wicket is different and after 10 overs it is different. So, we have to plan accordingly. We will miss Naseem Shah. Shaheen is our best bowler. We believe in him and he believes in himself. One or two matches of bad performance do not bother us."
Babar mentioned Pakistan's T20I World Cup win against India and said that they will repeat the same in the ODI World Cup at Ahmedabad.
"In 2021 we beat India in T20 WC. I think we can do that here as well. I have not scored many runs in this World Cup till now and I hope it changes. You need to field well if you want to do well in the World Cup. We are working on it. Fielding is about attitude," he concluded.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.
Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim.
(With ANI inputs)