Pakistan's Babar Azam previews the huge clash with India at the ICC Cricket World Cup
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 All right. Thank you so much, everyone. We have Pakistan Captain Babar Azam for the pre-match
00:04 press conference. Just a few requests before we officially kick off. Please, I request
00:11 every journalist to ask one question when they are recognized. If you want to ask a
00:15 question, please raise your hand, and only when you are recognized, ask the question
00:19 only. Since I want to accommodate maximum request, please don't repeat a question. If
00:24 it has already been asked, we'll move on to another question. So now we'll start the press
00:29 conference. We'll start with Shahid Bhai.
00:32 Q. Babar, Assalam-o-Alaikum.
00:34 A. Walaikum-as-Salam.
00:35 Q. You have reminded us of 7-0, 7-0. How many people have reminded you of 7-0 in the World
00:41 Cup? And how much hope do you have that the Jinx will break that record by winning the
00:47 8th match?
00:48 A. Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim. Thank you so much. Look, I believe that I don't focus
00:55 on the past, and I try to focus on the future. Such records are made to break, and we try
01:02 to break them. Inshallah, we'll try to give a good performance tomorrow, on the day.
01:09 It depends on the day, how you play. And I believe that my team is doing very well in
01:16 the first two matches, and Inshallah, we'll do well in the next matches as well.
01:23 Q. Is it a game where the result of the match plays psychologically very important, or what
01:30 have you told your boys about it?
01:34 A. To be honest, yes. India-Pakistan match is a big game. It's a high-intensity game.
01:42 So, I just said that give us the best opportunity. Give us the best of what you have done.
01:52 We'll execute our plans as a team. And the main thing is to execute the plan and keep
02:01 the belief. Absolutely. Ahmedabad is a big stadium, and a lot of fans are coming. So,
02:09 this is a golden opportunity for us to perform well in front of the fans and become heroes.
02:15 Q. Babar, coming into this World Cup, most of your boys didn't have the experience of
02:22 playing in India. But you got two practice matches and two league matches. So, how do
02:27 you see the conditions, how different are they from your home conditions? And how much
02:32 will this experience help your team in coming into this big game?
02:36 A. In Hyderabad, we are playing 1.5 league. As far as I have noticed, every city has
02:47 different conditions. It's not similar. Some have more turns, some have more batting
02:55 and some have more bowlers. So, every stadium has different conditions. We have planned
03:05 accordingly. We get help. When you live in one place, you study the conditions, what
03:13 the first 10 hours are like, and then after 10 hours, the behavior is different. So, we
03:19 plan accordingly, how we will play, how we will execute our plan. We get help. Definitely
03:25 when you live in one place and study the conditions, you get a lot of help.
03:39 Q. Good afternoon. You said that the pace bowlers come as hunting pairs. So, Naseem
03:49 Shah will not be in Shaheen Afridi's opposite. So, how much will you be feeling his absence?
03:54 And did you have a word with Shaheen Afridi also in this matter?
03:59 A. First of all, we will miss Naseem Shah a lot. Because the way he was bowling in the
04:06 first half was very impressive bowling. And he was improving day by day. So, we miss
04:13 him a lot as a team, as a captain. As far as Shaheen is concerned, we know he is the best
04:21 bowler. He is a champion and he knows. I believe he is a bowler of big matches and he will
04:28 give a good performance. It doesn't matter if you don't get a wicket in one or two matches.
04:33 So, the question mark has come. I never think like that and my team never thinks like that.
04:39 We have full belief in him and he also has full belief in himself that I can do it. And
04:44 God willing, he will give a good performance in big matches.
04:47 Q. Samira Hussain with BBC News. Many Pakistani cricket fans will not be in the audience.
04:53 Their visas have not come through. You will be playing for a predominantly, overwhelmingly
04:59 Indian cricket fans in Ahmedabad. How are you and your players dealing with that kind
05:07 of pressure and how do you think that's going to impact your game?
05:10 This is not a pressure because we are playing before a lot of time in a large crowd, in
05:19 front of the big crowd in MCC and all the big stadiums. Yes, there also is a big stadium.
05:26 Yes, all sports, I think, Ahmedabad is only blue. So, if Pakistani fans are allowed, so
05:37 good for us. So, they also help support us. But to be honest, when we arrive in Hyderabad,
05:47 so I feel there are a lot of supporters of the Pakistani team and I expect that here
05:54 and we are looking forward to the match.
05:57 Q. Babar, good afternoon. Just taking a cue from your last answer, in this tournament
06:03 there have been 6-7 high scoring like 350+ scores and when pace is one of your strengths,
06:10 what are the conversations you have on surfaces like this which kind of get challenging for
06:14 the fast bowlers? Any conversations that you have had with Shaheen and others?
06:18 Look, here all the matches are high scoring matches and I think the margin of bowler is
06:30 very less. If you are bowling out of the stumps, so margin is less for bowlers. So, I just
06:39 ask my bowlers to just hit the length and bowl stump to stump. That's it.
06:45 Q. Babar, which batsmen and which bowlers do you find challenging for tomorrow's match?
06:54 Look, challenging is the match of Pakistan-India. I think you all and the fans and the whole
07:06 world are waiting for this match. We are also very excited. I think both sides are trying
07:16 to do their best. We are trying to see their top order and how we can out them and how
07:26 we can run against bowlers. So, it matters that on the day we play our best game.
07:34 Q. Babar, you have been in the team for a long time and you are very emotional. Do you
07:43 feel that you have more experience in this? Do you feel that you have more experience
07:48 in this? Do you feel that you have more experience in this?
07:53 Look, you are right about the pressure handle. You get experience. The more you go through
08:02 it, the more you know how to handle it. As a youngster, you feel that when I played
08:09 for the first time, there was a lot of pressure. But as you play, you share your experience
08:18 with the senior players. You share how to play and how to handle the pressure. So, you
08:22 get the experience. We try to give a positive message to the youngster and the team. It
08:28 is a game but a big game. It is a Pakistan-India match. How to handle it? The more you work
08:35 on yourself, the more you will see the ball to ball. The only thing is that when you see
08:42 the ball in the field and when you bat, you see the ball at a time. That's it. You don't
08:48 have to think much. The more you focus on yourself, the less pressure you will get.
08:57 Babar, you talked about the on-field pressure. How do you deal with it? How do you deal with
09:04 it off-field? It's a big match. A lot of people are calling you and saying that you have to
09:09 win. The number 7 is not right. How do you deal with that?
09:13 It's not about that. It's about the tickets. Basically, you know that people call me for
09:24 tickets. We don't take pressure. We were able to execute in the past but we changed in
09:39 2011 and 2019. We won the World Cup against India. We didn't do that before but we did
09:47 it in the last two years. We believe that we can do it. We did it and you never know
09:54 what will happen tomorrow. We believe that we can do it and we will go with full confidence.
10:00 On the day, we will give our best. Babar, this is Sakshi from CNN News18. Since
10:05 you are here in Gujarat, let's change the mood a little bit. Did you try Gujarati food
10:10 before coming here? Yes, we have tried but in the hotel we are not going outside right
10:17 now. Hi Babar. In the England and New Zealand match, it was seen that the batting was easy
10:27 in the second innings. You guys had a training session yesterday evening. Was it due and
10:35 do you think that toss can be a big factor tomorrow? I think that toss is vital in all
10:42 the matches because under the lights, the pitch behaves well. It was due but I don't
10:49 know. We will ask the umpire whether there will be a spray or not for due. But last night
10:57 it was due. Under the lights, it played better. Hi Babar. This is a match where people in
11:04 your country say that if you lose, don't lose to India. In our country, they say that
11:09 if you lose, don't lose to Pakistan. This is a match where captains are eliminated.
11:13 What is the pressure for this and what is your mandate to the players in your team meeting?
11:19 I never say that I will lose because of this match. I will do what Allah has written for
11:26 me. I will get what I believe in Allah. I didn't get a captain because of a match or
11:33 I won't get one because of a match. I believe in this. Confidence is the same as we played
11:40 in 2019, T20 and World Cup. Just simple plans. We will do what Allah has written for us.
11:47 Just simple plans. This is the best opportunity for you. This is the best time to execute
11:54 your game. Go and execute it. Enjoy this. Babar, your own record in ODIs against India
12:08 is not that good. Is this a kind of bowling against India that you have struggled a little
12:14 bit? Is this in your mind before the match? Your own run?
12:19 In this World Cup, I haven't played as I should have. But, Inshallah, in the next matches
12:28 you will see me different. Against India, we only come face to face in the World Cup.
12:36 There is a big gap. I don't get out because of a mistake. I try to make as few mistakes
12:50 as possible. Babar, in Asia Cup, we saw that fielding
12:57 is a major problem for Pakistan. Yesterday, your team did fielding drills for a long time.
13:03 What preparations are going on for that? What are you saying to the players?
13:09 After you won the match in Hyderabad, we saw that your match winner tweeted.
13:17 Are the players thinking about anything other than the World Cup?
13:21 I am talking about Rizwan. He tweeted on Gaza.
13:27 I think it is better to talk about cricket. You are taking it to the other side.
13:34 No, fielding…
13:36 Yes, fielding. I think we were not up to the mark in fielding. We accept it in all three
13:43 matches. If you want to win the tournament, you have to do good fielding. We are working
13:50 on it. We did it in the last practice session. The message is that you give batting and bowling
14:02 in fielding. But fielding is about attitude. Show your attitude after the players. Give
14:09 your best in fielding. If you stop the runs of the bowlers in fielding, the bowler will
14:15 take you again.
14:16 Thank you, Babar.