Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on Tuesday said he was excited for the October 14 World Cup clash with arch-rival and hosts India in Ahmedabad and vowed to perform his best. “I’m very excited to play in Ahmedabad. It is the biggest stadium in the world and will be jam-packed for the India-Pakistan clash,” he said. The national squad is set to depart for India for the tournament tomorrow. The team is due to travel to Dubai from Lahore before flying to Hyderabad, India, to play two warm-up matches against New Zealand on Sept 29 and Australia on Oct 3. The team’s World Cup campaign will officially kick off in Hyderabad on October 6 against The Netherlands. Their second match will be against Sri Lanka at the same venue on Oct 10.

The national side’s third fixture will be the high-octane encounter against arch-rivals India at Ahmedabad on October 14 before they go on to play Australia next and the remaining matches against other sides, ending their league stage with the game against England in Kolkata on November 12. During a press conference in Lahore today, Babar said the team’s morale was high and appealed to the nation to pray for them. In response to a question, the skipper admitted that Pakistan’s performance during two key Asia Cup matches were “not the best”. However, he said the team had learnt from its mistakes and would “give its best” during the World Cup.

“We will go, see the conditions and will opt for a combination that is best for the team,” he said. “I’m not worried about my performance. I always try to perform in a manner that suits the team.” “Although we have not played in India before, we are not taking too much pressure.” Babar maintained that the squad was focused on winning all the nine matches and eventually picking up the trophy. Questioned about the performance of spinners in the squad, Babar said, “No player is ordinary … it is very difficult to play in the Pakistan team, that only happens with performance and their performance is good.” “They will do good in the World Cup as well,” the skipper added.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)