Pakistan gamers throughout a observe session forward of their Group A match towards India within the ICC Champions Trophy, 2025, at Dubai Worldwide Cricket Stadium, Dubai on February 22, 2025.
| Photograph Credit score: ANI
Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed famous that the high-stakes nature of India-Pakistan video games affords gamers one of the best likelihood to showcase their expertise, and the additional stress on the gamers offers this encounter its attraction.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a knockout or no matter. It’s past sport, and that’s the wonder. When you take a look at the constructive, it’s one of the best time and likelihood for any particular person or staff to make a mark,” mentioned Javed.
“What’s stress? It’s the thought of what is going to occur earlier than and after a sport. Nobody is aware of. Proper now, we’re all guessing what is going to occur on this match. That is the fantastic thing about it.”
“Taking stress is the job of the gamers. When you take away this stress, what’s left within the Pakistan-India sport?,” he rhetorically requested.
On enjoying this significant encounter in Dubai, the place India has already performed one sport and is certain to take pleasure in extra crowd assist, the 52-year-old pressured that gamers should not fear concerning the crowd issue.
“The staff’s morale, wherever they play, even when they take the group out of the stadium, Pakistan-India sport can have the identical enthusiasm. That is the fantastic thing about it. And what does the group do? The gang helps you whenever you play nicely; they clap for you. While you play badly, whether or not it’s India or Pakistan, your crowd begins chanting towards you. So, you shouldn’t maintain the group in your thoughts as a participant,” he added.
The pitches in Dubai have been slower, and Pakistan has only one front-line spinner alongside part-timers like Salman Ali Agha (offie) and Kushdil Shah (left-arm spin). When requested if his facet lacked the fitting sources for the situations, Javed defended the choice.
“We’ve to play our cricket on our personal energy. Our staff won’t see any main modifications. We’ve chosen a staff primarily based on our beliefs. We are going to again this staff.”
“Our fast-bowling choices are one of the best. These are the match winners. It’s not essential to observe the identical technique as the opposite groups. And these are match winners, so it isn’t vital that the opposite staff ought to do the identical,” mentioned Javed.
Revealed – February 22, 2025 10:14 pm IST
