File photo of India vs Pakistan match.© AFP
The Pakistan cricket team is already in India, gearing up for the Cricket World Cup 2023. The mega event will kick off on October 5 with the final match set to be played on November 19. The Babar Azam-led side will be starting its Cricket World Cup campaign with a match against the Netherlands on October 6. Meanwhile, its much-awaited game against arch-rivals India will take place on October 14. Ahead of the crucial match against the number one ranked ODI team, Pakistan great Moin Khan has said that the players get scared while playing against India.
“I saw this 100%. The players looked scared, they were hesitant in even giving suggestions to Babar, whether it was Rizwan, Shadab or Shaheen. It was visible that the team wasn’t gelled up. There were no discussions, and even if there were suggestions those were not being followed. And even if Babar was following them, they weren’t working,” Moin told Cricket Pakistan while analysing the performance of Babar and the company at the Asia Cup 2023.
“Another thing is that against India players get scared. And those who really are scared that their suggestions won’t work… that’s fear. As a cricketer, you have to play on your potential and you should contribute 100%. It’s okay if your suggestions go wrong, it happens. But your body language shows whether you want to win, and that wasn’t visible. And I’m pretty sure there were some issues in the dressing room. And I know, in a professional environment, there are differences but you have to end them to perform better. You have to move on,” Moin added.
Kane Williamson showed his class in his first competitive outing in six months while Rachin Ravindra sizzled at the top of the order as New Zealand gunned down a 346-run target in their opening World Cup warm-up game against Pakistan in Hyderabad on Friday.
Barring the openers, Pakistan batters including Mohammad Rizwan (103 retired hurt off 91), Babar Azam (80 off 84), and Saud Shaukeel (75 off 53) had a good hit in the middle, helping their team post a daunting 345 for five in 50 overs.
Pakistan will take on Australia on October 3 in their second and final warm-up game.
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