Ahead of his side’s Asia Cup clash against arch-rivals India, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam expressed his belief in his pace attack and said fast bowlers win big matches. India will take on Pakistan in their first Super Four Asia Cup clash in Colombo on Sunday. Pakistan had won their first Super Four match against Bangladesh.
“I am proud of my pacers. We dominate everyone. Big matches and tournaments are won by fast bowlers. I have my belief in them. The secret behind their success is that they stay united and have belief in themselves. If one does not have a good day, the other one steps up and covers up for it,” said Babar in the pre-match press conference.
On possibility of rain in the match, Babar said that the team is focused on what it can control.
“We are focusing on things we can control. It rained four days. The way sun is out, does not look like it will rain. But we will focus on utilising whatever time we get to the best of our abilities,” he said.
Talking about his side’s performances in middle overs while bowling, Babar said that the side is trying different combinations.
“We start really well with the ball and try to utilise the middle overs too. Last time (Against Bangladesh), we gave a chance to pace bowling all-rounder. We are trying to play different combinations and find out what suits us the most. In all our matches, we are also finishing really well with our pace bowling. We are playing really well as a team. Even in the last match, Ifti (Iftikhar Ahmed) was given the ball and he bowled really well,” he added.
On the World Cup squad selection, Babar said that they are using this Asia Cup to look at what is best for them and try testing different combinations. They are trying to keep their options open.
“Heartbreaks do not really matter when it comes to selection. These are not my decisions to make, but from the higher authorities. These are rather opportunities that can fall in the hands of anyone,” he said.
The skipper said that it is important to look after the players who have been playing cricket for over two months in Sri Lanka, be it some Test cricket, an ODI series against Afghanistan, Lanka Premier League (LPL) and now Asia Cup.
“We have been playing cricket for more than 2.5 months. In training, we are looking to utilise our time well. But also, we have to look after our players, since there are back-to-back matches and travelling. We are trying to keep them relaxed as much as possible. Boys are playing a lot of cricket, so looking after them becomes important. We have done it well,” said the skipper.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir (travelling reserve).
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumraj, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (travelling reserve).
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