Kolkata : India and Pakistan are set to lock horns at Dubai today in ICC CT 2025.
A win for India will almost seal their semi final berth, however, a loss for Pakistan will eliminate them for tournament.
Although India are favourites to win the clash considering both team’s recent form, Pakistan, are sure footed in this venue at Dubai.
India won first match against Bangladesh by 60 runs, on other hand, Pakistan was hammered by New Zealand by 60 runs.
Speaking about the all important hype and energy of the IND vs PAK rivalry, Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed said, “For the cricketers, this is a profession”.
“For them, it definitely is an honour. But, it is a profession. You try your best. In that, you sometimes lose as well. It is a match… one team will win, one will lose. How does it matter? Why so much pressure? Every game is different”.
“In a Pakistan-India game, the energy will remain high. And this is the beauty of this contest. What does the crowd do? When you play well, the crowd supports you, they clap their hands. When you play poorly, be it India or Pakistan, the home crowd will go against you. As a player, you shouldn’t keep the crowd in mind. We never kept it and neither should these players. What’s your focus? Ball, bat – that’s it.”
Focusing fully on the cricket and not the external hype becomes all the more important for Pakistan, given, after their opening-day loss to New Zealand, they really need points on the board.
There is also particular focus on this game, because although Pakistan are the official hosts, they have had to travel to Dubai, where India have set up camp, and have already played a match. There have been suggestions that it is India who are enjoying the closest thing to home advantage in this scenario. But Aaqib played those suggestions down.
“There’s no advantage [for India] at all, because if you look at all the Pakistani players, they have been playing leagues here,” Aaqib said. “The PSL has been played here. So there’s nothing really – there’s no advantage or disadvantage.” Not to forget, nearly all of Pakistan’s home fixtures were played in the UAE between 2009 and 2019.
The surface in Dubai is expected to play slower and lower than those in Pakistan, partly because the ILT20 was played here over the past six weeks. Very few of the strips on the square are fresh. It is also to be noted that this is the same venue where Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets in ICC T20 WC 2021.
“We also have to see the pitch and the ground here,” Aaqib said. “Are these similar to the one we have in Pakistan or are they different? We will play in accordance with the pitches, conditions and the opposition team.”
Javed also made statement saying, “We’ll surprise India”.
Pakistan defeated India in ICC CT 2017 final, and the wounds are still fresh in Indian’s mind. India would want to seek revenge by eliminating Pakistan today.
