Babar Azam says Pakistan have home advantage against India in Sri Lanka due to recent games
With just hours left in the most anticipated cricket clash, the Pakistan versus India match, the national side announced their XI, keeping the same team that hammered Asia Cup debutants Nepal in the opener.
Pakistan, who recently rose to the top of world ODI team rankings, will take on arch rivals India in Pallekele on Saturday in the 50-over Asia Cup tournament, a prelude to the upcoming ODI World Cup in India.
Addressing a press conference in Kandy, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam Friday said that the Men in Green have a great edge over India give the home advantage it has in Sri Lanka due to playing a lot of cricket there recently.
It may be noted that Pakistan have enough familiarity with the conditions in Sri Lanka as almost all the cricket they have played in the last more than two months has been in the island country. They played Test series against the host team in Sri Lanka, then they played an ODI series against Afghanistan, while some players also participated in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) there.
"There is no pressure on us; instead, we have the [winning] momentum and we will try to maintain this momentum," Babar said.
He said that all the players in the squad are pumped up as everyone knows that the Pakistan-India match is a great match.
"Everyone in the world waits for this match and we are hopefull that it will be a good match," he added.
The skipper further stated that they will try to keep the best playing XI and perform well in the matches of continental cricketing event.
Babar also said that sometimes the performances vary but the team has been doing well for a while.
"We were in a bit trouble regarding the middle order but the middle order has a good response now," he said.
The world will be witnessing a guaranteed blockbuster clash between the the titans with huge number of spectators arriving in the host city Kandy to watch the match.
Pakistan boast of one of the world's best pace attacks including Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.
All three made a good start in the opener of the 50-over tournament.
Rohit's side will play their opening match of the tournament against Pakistan on Saturday in Pallekele, the first of three potential clashes between the bitter rivals in Sri Lanka.
Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan (vc), Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah.