2 long a post so not read it - PAK need a spicy pitch to bridge the gap between them & IND plus drop hulk Azam & ask Rizzu to keep wickets & hope they do not bat 1stI was thinking about how Pakistan can get themselves out of this mess and give themselves a chance of defeating a vastly superior opponent.
None of this is going to happen, but if anyone affiliated with the team management of Pakistan follows PakPassion, they should give it a shot.
Pakistan finds themselves in a unique situation where for the first time, all pressure is on India because it is probably the first Pakistan India match in probably forever where even the most optimistic and deluded Pakistani fan has no expectations and hopes.
It is not the first time Pakistan is going to play India after finding itself in a spot of bother and when it is all over the place, but this is the lowest point that Pakistan cricket has experienced before playing a match vs India.
This is not one of those generic tirades of how Pakistan can turn up when you don’t expect them to, or how they are unpredictable bla bla, but this is about what Pakistan can do to make best use of their terrible situation.
I think Pakistan has a huge opportunity to deflect all the pressure to India.
Let India know that if you lose to Pakistan, you lose to a team that got rolled over by USA.
Pakistan should the sledge the daylights out of India. Babar should spend the entire pre match conference focusing on how India’s are favorites and let both the Pakistani and Indian media mock him for this defeatist attitude.
When they step into the ground, every Pakistani player should tell every single Indian player that they cannot lose to a team that were beaten by USA.
Mock yourself and play with their minds. Put all the pressure on them.
Rizwan should not shut up about how USA beat them for the entire 20 overs behind the stumps and how Indian cannot lose, similar to what Sangakkara did with Pollock in 2003 but extend that for the length of the innings.
Force the Indian players to think about why they cannot lose to Pakistan rather than why they should win the match.
This group of Indian players have never been sledged by this group of Pakistani players. Give them an experience that they have never experienced before and an experience that they don’t anticipate.
Everyone expects Pakistani to approach this game with a timid outlook, to say the same generic stuff before the match and take on the field with the same nervous outlook, so it is an opportunity to break the expectations.
With all due respect to India, we all know that they can absolutely bolt it under pressure in a tournament situation. They have been doing it for 10 for years. Use that to your advantage.
Pakistani players should hype up the Indian crowd throughout the time and rile them up. The Pakistani fans in return should help the team by riling up the Indian players. Keep shouting how India cannot lose to a team that lost to USA.
Take USA shirts and flags to the game. All this chaos and drama can unsettle the Indian players and crowd.
This is Pakistan’s only chance. If they do what they are expected to do and what the Indian players think they will do, they will never win.
If it works, everyone will remember how Pakistan got under India’s skin. If it doesn’t work, so what, they will get mocked, criticized and abused like they have been for the past 3 days.