The 40-year-old former Pakistan pace-bowling all-rounder Abdul Razzaq believes that India will continue to maintain their unbeaten record against Pakistan in the World Cup in the near future.
India-Pakistan is one of the most exciting clashes in any kind of international cricket fixtures. The fans of both countries have high expectations from their respective teams which opens up the path of the high-pressure situations for the players. Media also plays a significant role during an enthralling contest.
Till the date, India and Pakistan have met seven times in the ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments and five times in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup tournaments. Pakistan have never achieved success in all these matches, and even their first meeting in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup history had the tie result. India ultimately beat their arch-rivals in the now-defunct bowl out system.
Abdul Razzaq believes that India will maintain their dominant unbeaten record against Pakistan in the future World Cup tournaments. He has claimed that the Pakistan players are not able to absorb the pressure of these matches.
Razzaq recently told PTI, “India will continue to maintain that record. It is rare that India and Pakistan play each other in knock-out matches of ICC events. They mostly play in the league stage and India are favourites. Our players are not able to absorb the pressure that comes with this game.”
In the Cricket World Cup knock-out stages, India-Pakistan have met twice, in the 1996 Cricket World Cup (quarter-final) and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 (semi-final). Moreover, in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup history, India and Pakistan met in the final of the ICC World T20 2007 where India beat their neighbour by just five runs.
The players are not confident about beating India in World Cup: Abdul Razzaq
Razzaq also recalled that they earlier beat the Indian team regularly which raised the people and media pressures on their players. He also believes that the Pakistan players are not confident of beating India in the World Cup.
Razzaq claimed, “We used to win a lot against India in Sharjah and also beat them in Canada twice. I remember the 1999 World Cup, people and media put pressure on the players before the game and we wilted. It has stayed like that unfortunately.
“The pressure builds on the players though it is like any other match. The players are not confident about beating India in World Cup.”
During his international career, Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq featured in three India-Pakistan matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup history (1999, 2003 and 2011). The all-rounder also feels that Pakistan had their best chance to beat India in the ICC Cricket World Cup history during the semi-final of the 2011 edition.