With the T20 World Cup 2024 only a few weeks away, Babar Azam has already set his sights on keeping Virat Kohli quiet when Pakistan meet India on June 9th in New York. However, the right-handed batter remains vary of all other batters and stated that he will not take anyone lightly.
Kohli has been arguably been India's best batter in T20 World Cups and has a sensational record against Pakistan. The former Indian skipper averages 81.33 against Pakistan in 10 T20Is by accumulating 488 runs. The 35-year-old notably steered the Men in Blue to a stunning win over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022 fixture at the MCG.
Speaking at a pre-departure presser on Monday, Babar claimed:
"As a team, you always plan against different teams and according to their strengths. We don't plan anything against only one player. We plan for all eleven players. We don't know much about the conditions in New York and we will plan accordingly. He [Virat Kohli] is one of the best players and we will plan against him as well."
"We will play with our best possible XI in the remaining matches" - Babar Azam
With Pakistan experimenting in the series against New Zealand, Babar feels there is no room for that in the remaining matches and their best side must play in the remaining fixtures. He added:
"I think there is less time for rotation now because the World Cup is around the corner, and in the remaining matches, we will try to give the team we want to play with in the World Cup a proper opportunity. We will sort out whatever our bowling and batting combination is, and we have almost done that. We will play with our best possible XI in the remaining matches."
After playing against Ireland in 3 T20Is, Pakistan will also lock horns with England in 4 matches.
