Former Pakistan One-Day International captain Azhar Ali, on Wednesday (May 31), said that Pakistan is all geared up to face defending champions India in their opening game of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy. Players of both the teams will be under pressure to deliver in the high-voltage clash and would also be desperate to start the campaign on a winning note. India is seen as the favourites to walk away with the match but Azhar Ali has insisted his team are prepared for the Virat Kohli-led side.
But defeating India is no mean task and it will take a herculean effort from Pakistan to register their third victory over the Men in Blue in the Champions Trophy. Pakistan recently won an ODI series in West Indies and Azhar is hopeful that his team keeps on working in the right direction. The Pakistani batsmen have been very inconsistent in the past one year or so but Azhar said that the players have worked on it.
“We’ve worked on it,” he said. “We know the game has come a long way. We’ve seen some good results in the recent past. Obviously, there’s a long way to go but we are working on it. We would love to play at the same pace that the rest of the world is playing.”
Pakistan’s unpredictable batting lineup will be up against India’s formidable bowling line-up comprising the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav and Azhar knows it quite well. But at the same time, the opening batsman said that the Pakistan bowling lineup is equally strong and the batsmen are also prepared to face the Indian bowlers.
“India’s bowling has improved a lot in the recent past but we also have a good bowling group,” he said. “We know our strengths and we are prepared for them. India has been bowling really. They are a very good bowling side.
“Every team is trying their best to perform in batting, bowling and fielding as well. There’s nothing easy in international cricket. We expect every team to post a challenge,” he added.
Pakistan warmed-up for the upcoming tournament in style, beating Bangladesh in a high-scoring thriller where they chased down 341 despite being 249 for 8. Fahim Ashraf starred for them, scoring an unbeaten 64 off 30 to take Pakistan home.
When Azhar was asked whether the uncapped allrounder would be given a chance against India, he said:
“This is up to the team management to decide. Whatever the team management decides, we do believe that everyone has the ability to perform.”