Pakistan warmed up for their blockbuster T20 World Cup clash against India with a 32-run win against the USA on Tuesday, then declared they were “confident” of taking down their bitter rivals.
The Group A win was a boost for Pakistan before Sunday’s high-octane clash with the defending champions in Colombo, now back on after the Islamabad government called off a boycott 24 hours previously.
Opener Sahibzada Farhan, who top scored with 73 in the USA win, said: “The match is on and we are in a confident mood.”
Pakistan have a dismal record against India in ICC tournaments, winning only once in eight encounters in T20 World Cups, and have lost all eight times that the sides have met in the 50-over World Cup.
In last year’s T20 Asia Cup, India beat Pakistan three times on their way to lifting the trophy in Dubai.
Spinner Tariq Usman, who took 3 for 27 against the United States, said those stats did not bother him.
“We used to beat India in the 1990s and before so don’t count the recent record or only the ICC event record, we used to win against them frequently,” said Tariq.
Farhan promised: “This time it will be different and we will give a strong performance.
“We lost all three matches, including the final to India in the Asia Cup but they were not one-sided.”
Farhan said two wins out of two in the World Cup, the first was against the Netherlands on Saturday, had kick-started Pakistan’s campaign.
Pakistan came into the tournament having beaten Australia 3-0 in a home T20 series, and Farhan said the mood around the camp was very positive.
“Wins always give you confidence, and we will take this confidence into Sunday’s game, and we assure you we will be a better side come Sunday,” said Farhan.
India will face a second Group A match against Namibia on Thursday in New Delhi before flying to Sri Lanka.
It means a quick turnaround for Sunday’s match, the biggest and most lucrative clash in world cricket.
