Babar wants players to focus as Pakistan face NZ

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan captain Babar Azam, who was involved in a record-breaking unbroken opening-wicket stand with Mohammad Rizwan in an emphatic 10-wicket win against India, Monday said that the main focus should be to win the T20 World Cup.

Talking to his teammates in the dressing room following the win, Babar said that everyone should focus on winning the World Cup rather celebrating the win. “Indeed the victory against India was a big achievement but our main focus is to win the World Cup. You just have one day (Sunday) to celebrate. From Monday onward forget about the victory and start concentrating on the next important match against New Zealand. To win the World Cup, we have to put up a real fight each time we land at the wicket,” he added.

“I want the best from each player in every match. Focus on winning every match by putting up your best effort,” Babar said and asked his fellow cricketers not to get carried away by the win. “We need to put up an even better performance in the matches to come,” he said.

He added that the victory against India was a result of the team effort. “We have won against India as a team and want to carry forward that momentum going into next matches. All we need is to stay focused and make even harder efforts.”

Williamson tips Pakistan as favourites to lift WC trophy

New Zealand team captain Kane Williamson Monday rated Pakistan as one of the favourites for the T20 World Cup following their resounding victory over India, admitting that his team was facing one of the toughest challenges on Tuesday (today) in the T20 World Cup.

To a question by ‘The News’ during a virtual media conference, Williamson said that Pakistan’s win against India was impressive. “No doubt the win was impressive. Pakistan played far better cricket in all the departments of the game. So the match against Pakistan will not be easy. We need to play our best cricket to beat them,” he said.

New Zealand captain was wary of wicket behaviour at Sharjah. “You could never say anything final about the Sharjah wicket. Sometimes scoring on these tracks get tougher — the other you feel it batting friendly. So we have to stay focused to make the best of the given track,” he said.

Williamson added that he wanted his players to perform according to the laid down plan. “We have our own strategy for the match. I want my team members to play according to the given plan. I am expecting a really close contest on Tuesday,” he said.

Despite news emerging from the New Zealand camp, Williamson said the team had no injury problems. “All the members are available for selection. My elbow is also getting better,” he added.

On his team’s pulling out of the Pakistan tour last month, Williamson said it was very unfortunate. “No cricketer has any say in such a decision. What happened there was unfortunate. We always enjoy cricketing relations with the Pakistan team and want to continue with the same vein. Whenever we would get an opportunity we would play against Pakistan. The Greenshirts are one of the most exciting teams around. Playing cricket against them holds special flavour,” he said.

Today’s Fixture

Pakistan vs New Zealand

7:00 pm PST