‘Not Thinking Only About Playing And Winning Against India in World Cup’: Pakistan Captain Babar Azam – News18

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has suggested that his team is not focussing only on the India clash and they have set a target to win the 2023 ODI World Cup and for that, they have to win every match. Babar will lead the Pakistan team for the first team in ODI World Cup as in 2019, Sarfaraz Ahmed led the charge of the side and they failed to enter the semifinals. While Babar has led the team in the last two T20 World Cups as Pakistan reached the semifinals in 2021 while ended up as runner-up in the 2022 showpiece event.

Regarding the October-November World Cup in India, he said, “We are not thinking only about playing and winning against India in the World Cup. We are looking at doing well in every match if we are to win the ICC title.

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“We are going to play the World Cup not just India in India.” Babar said the players are preparing for the back-to-back assignments lined up for them.

Pakistan will face India on October 15th at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad in the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Meanwhile, PCB recently witnessed big changes in the leadership and selection committee. The Pakistan captain said that the players are not focusing on what is happening on the board and working hard to win the upcoming matches.

“We don’t focus on what is happening in the PCB. We just focus on cricket. We have the entire schedule of our coming matches before us and we know what needs to be done to win matches as professionals,” Babar said.

He also said that the Pakistan team is working on its plans for the Asia Cup and World Cup keeping in mind its strengths and the conditions in the host countries.

The Pakistan skipper said that the upcoming Test series in Sri Lanka would be challenging as it is the start of the new World Test Championship cycle for them.

“We will be guided by Mickey Arthur in Sri Lanka as he had also remained their coach and knows the conditions there well,” he said.

Babar also felt that the Test series in Sri Lanka would help Pakistan in their preparations for the 50-over Asia Cup and World Cup.

“The formats are different but playing in conditions like Sri Lanka will help us prepare well,” he said.