ICC World Cup 2019 | India will not be overconfident against Pakistan, reckons Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar has stated that India will not be overconfident against Pakistan on Sunday at Manchester despite the fact that they enjoy a much superior record against their arch-rivals in recent times. Starting from 1992, Pakistan have never defeated India in a World Cup game till date.
Since the previous edition of the World Cup, India and Pakistan have met four times in ODIs with the former winning three of them. The margin of victory for India was 124 runs in the opening encounter of the Champions Trophy 2017, while it was eight and nine wickets in the two Asia Cup matches respectively. This shows the dominance India has had over their neighbours in recent times, coupled with the 6-0 record in World Cups.
However, the one loss in the finals of the Champions Trophy will hurt India the most as they were defeated by 180 runs, the biggest loss for them against Pakistan. Sachin Tendulkar believes that head coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli, among other players, will not be overconfident keeping the singular loss in mind.
"That's a positive comeback (for Pakistan). After having been 6-0 down, the last one that they had won. Indian team wouldn't be overconfident. We are confident but we won't be overconfident. I can fully understand that Ravi , Virat and all the senior players would be emphasizing that we got to be on our toes, go out and play what we are good at," Sachin said, reported India Today.
India is the second-ranked team and have won both their games so far barring the one against New Zealand that got washed out. The legendary batsman reckoned that an in-form team will think differently and will have an upper hand in crunch situations.
"I think when you are winning you are thinking different, but we, as a team, always think that we can't be overconfident. Pack those confident things in the kitbag and travel with it. The team which is winning invariably the thought process is different and you believe you can pull through difficult situations," asserted the 46-year-old.
"At this stage 100% India are the better side. The way we have been performing for a number of months now we have been right at the top and carrying the momentum all the way,” added the 2011 World Cup champion.
Pakistan played well in their previous encounter against Australia but only one of their batsmen scored a 50 despite six of them crossing the 30-run mark. Sachin, who has taken up commentary for the first time at the ongoing ten-nation tournament, still reckoned that Pakistan is a good side.
“Against Australia, Pak lost wickets at critical moments. They are a decent side and were in the game till the end," he signed off.