Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has urged the Pakistan cricket team to forget about the ‘hawa’ (aura) of the Indian cricket team and play fearless cricket in the Asia Cup final. India have beaten their arch-rivals twice already in the tournament. Akhtar has spent the last few weeks criticizing Pakistan team’s performances during his appearances on panel discussion shows back home. But after Pakistan qualified for the final on Thursday night after defeating Bangladesh, Akhtar showered praise on the team, while claiming they were good enough to defeat the Indian side, which is so far undefeated. In fact, India have beaten Pakistan twice so far in the Asia Cup.
But Pakistan’s win on Thursday in the Super 4 clash over Bangladesh came after a fightback. The team had slumped to 49/5 at one stage batting first. Akhtar demanded that the Pakistan team show the same fight against India. The Rawalpindi Express also pointed out one element that he believed held the key to derailing the Indian team’s juggernaut.
“We need to break out of this mindset, break down the hawa (aura) that has been built around the Indian team, and go in with the same attitude we had today against Bangladesh. Take India on. That’s the kind of attitude you need. And please remember we don’t need to go in thinking we have to bowl 20 overs. No! we need to get them out. When you go out to get them out, even India will realize they have to fight to score runs and that they won’t get any free runs,” Akhtar said on the Game On Hai show on PTV Sports. “Pakistan has to move beyond this, forget about India being the number one team. We have the number one fast bowler in Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Haris Rauf is as quick as anyone in the world today. So there’s no issue if you go in with this attitude.”
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The Indian team has so far beaten Pakistan twice in two encounters at the ongoing Asia Cup, winning by seven wickets in the group stage before defeating them by six wickets in a Super 4 clash. Akhtar, though, believes that this Pakistan team has shown signs that they can mount a challenge in the third Sunday of asking against the Men in Blue who have shown that they are far superior to the rest of the teams at the event.
Akhtar pointed out the one aspect that could swing the game in Pakistan’s favour: getting opener Abhishek Sharma out in the first couple of overs. Sharma has been the top scorer of the tournament so far with 248 runs from five games, including a 39-ball 74 in the Super 4 game against Pakistan and a 13-ball 31 in the group stage game.
“We have to get Abhishek out, that’s it. We can accept a boundary off a good length ball, accept a boundary off a good ball, or a sharp bouncer. As a bowler, I’m telling you, even a great like Ricky Ponting can miss a powerful bouncer or a good length ball. It’s not like Abhishek will do something amazing. He has mis-timed and mis-cued shots in this tournament. The moment Abhishek gets out in the first two overs, mark my words, India will also be in trouble. The good starts they are getting right now, after which they are having a ball of a time, they will struggle as well if Abhishek gets out early. So there will be pressure on them.”
Akhtar added: “Look, no matter how India plays, Gautam, who played with us, will tell them ‘Is team ka aitbaar nahi’ (You can’t trust this team to always play badly). You’re going to have to bring your A-game against Pakistan because they can turn things around at any minute. And now against Bangladesh they have. Pakistan plays the worst cricket, they pick the worst side, but the minute the final comes, they play the best cricket and they win the final. How many times has this happened with the Pakistan team? I think that’s exactly what they’ll do.”
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