Dubai — Pakistan batter Saim Ayub declared on Saturday that the team’s primary focus in the men’s Asia Cup is not solely their highly anticipated match against arch-rivals India, but rather securing the overall tournament victory. His remarks came ahead of the geopolitically-charged contest set for Sunday in Dubai, marking the first cricket encounter between the two nations since a four-day military conflict in May.
While reigning T20 world champions India are widely considered the favourites to retain their title, Pakistan arrives in strong form, having convincingly beaten Afghanistan in a tri-series final and also defeating Oman in the lead-up to the event.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Ayub stated, “We are not just looking forward to the Pakistan-India match, but we are looking forward to winning the tournament.” He emphasised that the current tournament holds paramount importance for the squad. Addressing questions about Pakistan’s batting strategy against India’s formidable attack, Ayub affirmed, “The focus is on playing fearless cricket against all opponents.”
Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha echoed a similar sentiment following the Green Shirts’ comprehensive victory against Oman on Friday. “We have been playing good cricket in the last two-three months and we just have to play good cricket,” Agha commented. “If we can execute our plans for a long enough period, we can beat any team.”
Earlier in the week, Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Mike Hesson dismissed concerns regarding the national squad’s batting performance. On Thursday, Hesson expressed bewilderment over where such concerns originated, noting the team had previously faced and defeated the “best wrist spin attack in the world” – referring to Afghanistan – by over 70 runs in the tri-series final. “It’s very much a developing batting lineup,” Hesson explained. “There’s many players who can win you the game on their day, but they don’t have as many good days as you’d like at the moment… the thing for us is that we are more interested in the sum of the parts as a batting group.”
India enters the high-stakes match after an dominant performance on Thursday, where they bowled out the United Arab Emirates for just 57 runs in 13.1 overs before chasing down the target in a mere 27 balls to win by nine wickets.
Bilateral cricket ties between Pakistan and India have remained suspended even before the military clashes in May, which nearly escalated into a full-blown war. The teams now face each other exclusively in multi-nation tournaments. Political relations have further strained since the recent hostilities, leading several former Indian players to urge the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to boycott the upcoming fixture. However, with the threat of a boycott now averted, sparks are expected to fly as both Salman Ali Agha and his Indian counterpart have ruled out any softening of aggression for the much-anticipated Group A encounter.
“Once the BCCI said they are aligned with the government, we are here to play,” India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak told reporters on Friday. “Once we are here to play, I think players are focused on playing cricket. I personally don’t think they have anything in mind apart from playing cricket and that’s what we focus on.”
The eight-nation T20 tournament commenced on Tuesday with Afghanistan defeating Hong Kong by 94 runs. India subsequently crushed host nation UAE by nine wickets on Wednesday. Group A comprises Pakistan, India, Oman, and UAE, while Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, and Bangladesh form Group B. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Four stage, with the top two teams from that stage then competing in the final on September 28 in Dubai.
