- Joined
- Oct 2, 2004
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Babar Azam in his pre-game presser for the iconic clash against India
About the 7-0 streak
"I never look back at the past but instead like to look ahead and focus on what's coming up; Records are made to be broken; We will try and put in our best performance tomorrow and I have a lot of confidence on my team who have done well in the past 2 games and Inshallah will do well in the upcoming games as well."
Message to his troops ahead of the game against India:
"To be honest, India and Pakistan matches are always high intensity games so what I have told my players is to give it their best, to believe in themselves and do what they have been doing before and to execute our plans; Ahmedabad is a huge stadium and a lot of people are coming to see this match so it's a golden opportunity for us to perform well in front of the fans and become heroes"
Experience of local conditions
"From what I know, I can say that pitches behave differently in each city; Some places it turns more and in others not so each stadium has different conditions and we have planned accordingly. So, staying in one location for a while (Hyderabad) helps you in understanding local condition".
On Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi
"As a team and as a captain, we will really miss Naseem Shah because his bowling had been very impressive during the Asia Cup and we could see that he was improving day by day as a bowler; As far as Shaheen Shah Afridi is concerned, we know that he is one of the best bowlers, he's a champion and I have a belief that he is a big-match bowler and he will perform well; It does not matter if he doesn't get wickets in one or 2 games; There is no question mark on him and this is not the way I or my team thinks; We have belief in Shaheen as does he in his own abilities and he will Inshallah put in good performances in big games"
Pressure of playing in front of Indian fans in Ahmedabad
"There will be no pressure because we have played such games in front of large crowds many times before, such as in MCG; We know that Ahmedabad will be mostly blue and it would have been good to have some Pakistan support if the fans were allowed to come there but just as in Hyderabad, we expect some support for Pakistan in Ahmedabad too."
His advice to bowlers given the high-scoring games in the World Cup
"Most of the games are very high-scoring and the margin of error for bowlers is very less, especially if you are bowling outside the stumps, so I have just asked my bowlers to hit the length and bowl stump to stump,and that's it"
Which Indian bowler and batter will provide the biggest challenge to Pakistan?
"The whole game against India is a challenge for us! All fans in India and Pakistan are waiting for this game and even are very excited; We will see how to get their top order and how to score runs against their bowlers - all that really matters is that we play our best game on the day"?
Handling the off-field pressure of the India Pakistan game about the losing streak
"I have got a lot of phone calls for tickets! In the past we have not been able to execute our plans but in 2019 we changed it - We believe we can do it and we have done it; Tomorrow we could do it again - you never know - we will go with full confidence in this game and give our best on the day".
Dew and toss - will they be big factors?
"All the games we have seen so far, toss has been vital to the outcome of the game as the pitch seems to behave very nicely under lights; We saw some dew last night here, but we will ask the match referee and umpires if they will spray the field or not."
Captains have lost their jobs as result of the India-Pakistan games.
"First of all, I never worry about the fact that I could lose my captaincy due to this game - I will captain as long as the Almighty wills it; I did not become a captain due to one game, and I will not lose it because of one; The main thing is to execute your plans and most of all enjoy this game".
Record against India not been that good - is it playing on his mind?
"My record in this World Cup has not been that good; Against India, we only play in World Cups so there is a bit of a gap between the times we play them so I wouldn't say that I have a problem against any specific bowler but I would say that I sometimes get out due to my own mistakes but I try and make sure I commit as few mistakes as possible"
Indian reporter tried to ask about Rizwan's Gaza tweet, but Babar asked to stay on cricket.
About the 7-0 streak
"I never look back at the past but instead like to look ahead and focus on what's coming up; Records are made to be broken; We will try and put in our best performance tomorrow and I have a lot of confidence on my team who have done well in the past 2 games and Inshallah will do well in the upcoming games as well."
Message to his troops ahead of the game against India:
"To be honest, India and Pakistan matches are always high intensity games so what I have told my players is to give it their best, to believe in themselves and do what they have been doing before and to execute our plans; Ahmedabad is a huge stadium and a lot of people are coming to see this match so it's a golden opportunity for us to perform well in front of the fans and become heroes"
Experience of local conditions
"From what I know, I can say that pitches behave differently in each city; Some places it turns more and in others not so each stadium has different conditions and we have planned accordingly. So, staying in one location for a while (Hyderabad) helps you in understanding local condition".
On Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi
"As a team and as a captain, we will really miss Naseem Shah because his bowling had been very impressive during the Asia Cup and we could see that he was improving day by day as a bowler; As far as Shaheen Shah Afridi is concerned, we know that he is one of the best bowlers, he's a champion and I have a belief that he is a big-match bowler and he will perform well; It does not matter if he doesn't get wickets in one or 2 games; There is no question mark on him and this is not the way I or my team thinks; We have belief in Shaheen as does he in his own abilities and he will Inshallah put in good performances in big games"
Pressure of playing in front of Indian fans in Ahmedabad
"There will be no pressure because we have played such games in front of large crowds many times before, such as in MCG; We know that Ahmedabad will be mostly blue and it would have been good to have some Pakistan support if the fans were allowed to come there but just as in Hyderabad, we expect some support for Pakistan in Ahmedabad too."
His advice to bowlers given the high-scoring games in the World Cup
"Most of the games are very high-scoring and the margin of error for bowlers is very less, especially if you are bowling outside the stumps, so I have just asked my bowlers to hit the length and bowl stump to stump,and that's it"
Which Indian bowler and batter will provide the biggest challenge to Pakistan?
"The whole game against India is a challenge for us! All fans in India and Pakistan are waiting for this game and even are very excited; We will see how to get their top order and how to score runs against their bowlers - all that really matters is that we play our best game on the day"?
Handling the off-field pressure of the India Pakistan game about the losing streak
"I have got a lot of phone calls for tickets! In the past we have not been able to execute our plans but in 2019 we changed it - We believe we can do it and we have done it; Tomorrow we could do it again - you never know - we will go with full confidence in this game and give our best on the day".
Dew and toss - will they be big factors?
"All the games we have seen so far, toss has been vital to the outcome of the game as the pitch seems to behave very nicely under lights; We saw some dew last night here, but we will ask the match referee and umpires if they will spray the field or not."
Captains have lost their jobs as result of the India-Pakistan games.
"First of all, I never worry about the fact that I could lose my captaincy due to this game - I will captain as long as the Almighty wills it; I did not become a captain due to one game, and I will not lose it because of one; The main thing is to execute your plans and most of all enjoy this game".
Record against India not been that good - is it playing on his mind?
"My record in this World Cup has not been that good; Against India, we only play in World Cups so there is a bit of a gap between the times we play them so I wouldn't say that I have a problem against any specific bowler but I would say that I sometimes get out due to my own mistakes but I try and make sure I commit as few mistakes as possible"
Indian reporter tried to ask about Rizwan's Gaza tweet, but Babar asked to stay on cricket.
