India vs Pakistan | This time our main strength is batting, reckons Babar Azam ahead of high-pressure match

10/24/2021

Ahead of of his team's high-pressure game against India in the T20 World Cup 2021 on Sunday, Babar Azam has said that Pakistan's batting was the main strength this time around. Traditionally, the matchup between the arch-rivals is famous for the battle between India batters and Pakistan bowlers.

The 27-year-old, who will be captaining against India for the first time in his career, highlighted that Pakistan batsmen were in tremendous form and are geared up to win matches in the showpiece event.

Babar Azam himself has has hit two fities and a century in his last five outing in professional cricket. Pakistan's probable No. 3 Fakhar Zaman also looked in fine touch during the warm-up games ahead of the Super 12s. He scored 46 not out against West Indies and 52 versus South Africa. Not to forget, wicketkeeper-batsmen Mohammad Rizwan, who opens alongside Babar Azam in the format, has been a revelation for Pakistan in the last one year. The three batsmen are expected to be well supported by experinced Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez.

"I think this time our main strength is batting. The way our batters have been performing over the last couple of months, I am very hopeful that we will produce some good results due to our batting and also do better in the field," said Babar in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.

Further, Babar Azam played down talks around Pakistan's record in the World Cups against India. Notably, India have won their all five T20 World Cup matches agains their arch-rivals.

"We have forgotten what we have done in the past and we are trying to focus on the future. We will try to do better on the field in this match and we will try to produce better results," Babar said on Pakistan`s previous performances against India.

"We are very excited to play the World Cup, very excited for this event. The mood in the camp is very confident, we are all very excited. Everybody is excited, and as you know, that the first game is always very crucial, and we will try to produce some good performances in the first game and try to carry forward those performances. We are very confident about the event and the matches coming up," he added.

The contest will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium from 7:30 PM IST.