The psychological warfare in the run-up to the world’s biggest cricket rivalry has gotten underway. Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan opened the air by stating that he does not think there is much of a fuss about the upcoming Group A fixture against India, though also dismissing the notion that the rivalry is now one-sided in favour of the Men in Blue.
‘Just Another Normal Match’
Despite the global pressure and political drama surrounding the game confirmed only after the Pakistan government retracted a boycott call Farhan is not shaken. "You know, when you win two games and are at the top of the table, you feel confident. The upcoming match isn’t that big of a deal anymore; we’re not going to be playing them for the first time now,” Farhan said Tuesday in the post-match press conference. "It’s a normal match. We can’t try to put into our heads that this is an India-Pakistan match."
Disagreeing with Suryakumar Yadav
Farhan also wasted no time in disagreeing with Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav, who, after a few weeks of heavy, defensive Indian dominance, had floated that the rivalry had no longer been matched evenly. India went on to defeat Pakistan three times in last year’s Asia Cup, including in the final, but Farhan noted those matches were closer than the scorecards indicated.
“No, my guess, by the way we played the previous Asia Cup, we didn’t play one-sided. We played and battled until the end. Hopefully this time we’ll play a great game again,” he said.
Confidence at its Peak
Farhan’s star form supplies confidence in his superiority. His 41-ball 73 against the USA kept Pakistan’s record at the tournament perfect. With stalwarts such as Babar Azam getting the wind under their sails and the spin quartet of Shadab Khan and Usman Tariq stifling the rivals, Pakistan believes they have that “different mindset” needed to take down India at Colombo.
