Babar Azam says Pakistan will not be daunted by facing an almost entirely home crowd when they meet India in Ahmedabad tomorrow, challenging his side to “become heroes” as they seek to end their torrid World Cup run against the host nation.
Thousands of Pakistan fans with tickets for the group stage’s most eagerly-anticipated clash have been unable to travel across the border in time because of delays in the visa process.
The Pakistan Cricket Board issued a statement earlier this week saying it was “extremely disappointed” with the situation, which has affected both supporters and journalists travelling to the tournament.
The result is that the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which is the world’s biggest cricket ground, with capacity at more than 130,000, is expected to be even more partisan than usual.
“This is not pressure because we have played before a lot of time in front of a large crowd, in front of big crowds in MCG and all the big stadiums,” Pakistan captain Azam said.
“Yes, there are also big stadiums around and yes, I think Ahmedabad will only be blue. So, if Pakistani fans were allowed, it would have been good for us. So, they would support us. But to be honest, when we arrived in Hyderabad, I feel there were a lot of supporters of the Pakistan team and I expect that here and we are looking forward to the match.
“Ahmedabad is a big stadium and a lot of fans are coming. So, this is a golden opportunity for us to perform well in front of the fans and become heroes.”
Political tensions between the two countries mean they do not currently play against each other outside of tournaments and Pakistan have an abysmal record in ODI World Cups, having lost all seven of the rivals’ meetings in a run even stretching back to the 1992 edition, which they went on to win.
India did suffer a first ever World Cup defeat to Pakistan during the 2021 T20 World Cup, but then staged a remarkable run chase to win a thrilling contest in Melbourne during the subsequent edition last year and were comprehensive winners in the recent Asia Cup meeting.
“I don’t focus on the past; I try to focus on the future,” Azam added. “Such records are made to be broken and I try to break them. I will try to give a good performance tomorrow, on the day. It depends on the day how you play. I believe my team did well in the first two matches and will do well in the next matches as well.”
The hosts are expected to again be without Shubman Gill, who has been suffering from dengue fever, meaning Ishan Kishan will likely open the batting alongside captain Rohit Sharma, whose century in the hammering of Afghanistan earlier this week was his seventh in World Cups, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s record among Indian batters.
Pakistan have also made early tweaks at the top of their order, with Abdullah Shafique scoring a hundred on World Cup debut to lead the tournament’s record run-chase against Sri Lanka last time out, both sides now heading into tomorrow’s grudge with a perfect record of two wins from two.
