Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Thursday opened up on the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2023 and spoke about playing against arch-rivals India in the tournament.
India and Pakistan will be facing each other on October 15 in the 50-over showpiece event at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The blockbuster clash is going to be the biggest game of the tournament in terms of the number of viewers and the amount of money riding on it thanks to India and Pakistan's storied rivalry on the field and the clash between the two nations since the partition in 1947.
Expectations from both teams are going to be sky high but Babar Azam downplayed the matter during a recent press conference in which he said that Pakistan will be going to the World Cup with the mindset of beating each of the nine teams they are going to face.
"We are going to play the World Cup, it's not as if we are going to play just against India.
"We have to play against nine teams, if we beat them all then we will play the final. We are not focussing on just one team (India), we are focussing on all our opponents," Babar Azam said at a press conference.
Head-To-Head in ODI World Cups: India 7 Pakistan 0
India and Pakistan have faced each other 7 times in the ODI World Cup since 1992 with the Men in Blue emerging victorious on all occasions.
Pakistan however, are not worried about the past results or numbers and are just looking to play good cricket to win against all their opponents in the World Cup.
"Our plan is to play well against every team. We should be ready to go and play against any team any where because as a professional you have to be able to go and play in different conditions. This is the challenge that every player faces.
"As a captain, I wish to go and perform in every country and win games for Pakistan. So this is what we are thinking right now, and not focussing on just one team," Babar Azam said.
